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32  NORTH   PEARL   SI 


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DOMESTICATED  TROUT. 


How  to  Breed  and  Grow  Them. 


BY 

LIVINGSTON  .STONE,   A.M., 

DEPUTY  U.  S.  FISH  COMMISSIONER,   PROPRIETOR  OF  COLD  SPRING  TROUT  PONDS, 

SECRETARY   OF   AMERICAN    FISH    CULTURISTS'   ASSOCIATION,    AND 

EDITOR   OF   FISH   CULTURISTS*    DEPARTMENT   OF 

"NEW  YORK   CITIZEN." 


"  Purpurisque  Salare  stellatus  tergora  guttis." 

AusoniitSt  Idyl  Tenth. 


'  Make  assurance  double  sure." 

Macbeth,  Act  iv.  Scene  i. 


BOSTON : 
JAMES    R.  OSGOOD    AND    COMPANY, 

LATE  TICKNOR  &  FIELDS,  AND  FIELDS,  OSGOOD,  &  Co. 
I873- 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872, 

BY   LIVINGSTON    STONE, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


MAIN  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS:  WELCH,  BIGELOW,  &  Co., 
CAMBRIDGE. 


TO 

THEODORE    LYMAN, 

THE   LEADING  SPIRIT  IN  THE  NEW   FISH   RESTORATION   MOVEMENT 
IN   NEW   ENGLAND, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED 

BY 
THE    AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


PART    I. 
TROUT-BREEDING  WORKS. 

CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Page 

Trout  can  be  raised  successfully.  —  Qualities  required  for 
the  Best  Success.— The  Principle  of  Security,  —  em- 
phasized because,  I.  It  will  insure  Success ;  2.  Losses 
occur  on  so  large  a  Scale ;  3.  Sources  of  Danger  un- 
seen. —  Suitable  Water,  Importance  of.  Precautions : 
i.  Beware  of  Insufficient  Water;  2.  Of  Freshets;  3.  Of 
Water  that  heats  in  Summer ;  4.  Of  Water  intrinsically 
Unfavorable  to  Trout.  —  Spring  and  Brook  Water  com- 
pared   3-17 


CHAPTER   II. 

PONDS. 

A  Beginner's  Inquiries.  —  Directions  about  the  Construc- 
tion of  Ponds:  I.  Exercise  Forethought  in  locating 
Ponds  ;  2.  Excavate  the  Ponds  rather  than  dam  up  the 
Stream ;  3.  Build  compactly ;  4.  Build  small  Ponds  for 
Business ;  5.  Have  a  Fall  at  the  Head  of  each  Pond  ; 
6.  Do  not  build  Ponds  too  near  the  Spring ;  7.  Build 
Keeper's  House  very  near  the  Ponds ;  8.  Make  Ponds 


VI  CONTENTS. 

very  Secure ;  9.  Shape  of  the  Ponds ;  10.  Be  able  to 
draw  off  the  Water;  n.  Beware  of  Hiding-Places; 
12.  Number  of  Ponds ;  13.  Protections  for  Ponds ; 
14.  Spawning  Beds.  —  Ainsworth's  Spawning  Races. 
—  Collins's  Roller  Spawning  Box ;  15.  Inlets  and  Out- 
lets; 1 6  Screens 18-39 


CHAPTER   III. 

BUILDINGS. 

Buildings  required.  —  Meat  Room.  —  Store-Room  and  Car- 
penter's Shop.  —  Office.  —  Ice-House.  —  Other  Struc- 
tures. —  Hatching  House.  —  Size  of  Hatching  House  ; 
Location ;  Shape  ;  No  Fire  required ;  Skylights  ;  Wa- 
terproof Partitions 40-46 


CHAPTER    IV. 

HATCHING    APPARATUS. 

Enumeration  of  Hatching  Apparatus :  i.  Supply  Reser- 
voir; 2.  Hatching-Room  Aqueduct,  Effect  of  Air  on 
Temperature  of  Water ;  3.  Filtering  Arrangements  : 
Nature  of  Sediment,  Filtering  Tanks  and  Screens, 
Flannel  for  Filters,  Cleaning  the  Filters ;  4.  The  Dis- 
tributing Spout,  Temporary  Aqueduct,  Gravel  Filter ; 
5.  Hatching  Compartments  or  Hatching  Apparatus 
proper,  Responsibility  of.  —  Materials.  —  Glass  Grilles 
vs.  Charcoal  Troughs.  —  Expense  of  Carbonized  Wood 
compared  with  Glass  Grilles.  —  Discovery  of  Carbonized 
Wood  for  Hatching.  —  Wood  lined  with  Glass  inade- 
quate. —  Placing  the  Hatching  Troughs  ;  Dimensions  ; 
Compartments ;  Elevation  ;  Inclination.  —  Screens.  — 
Trap-Box.  —  Laying  the  Gravel ;  Size  of  Gravel ;  Prep- 
aration of;  Depth.  —  The  Covers.  —  Most  Embryos 
develop  in  the  Dark.  —  Covers  a  Protection  from  Ene- 
mies. —  Glass  Grilles  47-67 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE   NURSERY. 

Introduction.  —  The  Water.  —  Methods  of  Rearing.  — 
Ponds  vs.  Rearing-Boxes.  —  Rearing-Boxes  ;  Essential 
Points  of:  I.  A  Fall  of  Water  ;  2.  A  Current;  3.  Pro- 
tection against  Suction;  4.  Security  from  Overflow; 
5.  Absence  of  fixed  Hiding-Places;  6.  Compactness; 
7.  Protection  against  Outside  Enemies ;  8.  Perfectly 
Tight  Joints ;  9.  Protection  against  Fungus.  —  Maxi- 
mum and  Minimum  Supply  of  Water.  —  Arrangement 
of  Rearing-Boxes.  —  Directions  for  Ponds  .  .68-78 


PART    II. 
PROCESSES  IN  TROUT  BREEDING. 

CHAPTER  I. 

TAKING    THE    EGGS. 

Introduction.  —  Preparations  for  the  Spawning  Season.  — 
The  Spawning  Season.  —  Appearance  of  the  Two  Sexes. 

—  The  First  Fish  up.  — Method  of  Capturing.  —  Hold- 
ing   the   Fish.  —  The  Writer's   Method.  —  Directions 
about    Handling.  —  Russian    Method.  —  Russian    vs. 
American  Theory.  —  How  to  tell  Ripe  Fish.  —  How 
to  get  a  Good  Impregnation.  —  Whether  to  take  Milt 
or   Eggs  first.  —  Process  of  Impregnation.  —  Explana- 
tion.—  Directions 'about  Impregnating  Eggs:   i.  Use 
Eggs  that  flow  easily,  and  no  others  ;  2.  Use  Milt  that 
is  just  right,  and  no  other  ;  3.  Different  Stages  of  Ripe- 
ness ;  4.  Avoid  too  Cold  Water ;  5.  Make  Quick  Work ; 
6.  Stir  well  while  Stripping ;  7.  Allow  ample  Time  to 
separate  ;  8.  Rinse  thoroughly  ;  9.  Practise  for  Dex- 
terity. —  Closing  Notes.  —  Time  of  Spawning.  —  Age. 

—  Number    of   Eggs.  —  Effect    of  the    Weather.  — 
Best  Days  for   Spawning.  —  Spawning  in  the  Pond. 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

—  The    Spawning    Pans.  —  Hybrids.  —  Placing    the 
Spawn 81-111 

CHAPTER  II. 

HATCHING    THE    EGGS. 

Kind  of  Labor  required.  —  Dangers:  I.  Fungus;  2.  Sedi- 
ment; 3.  Living  Enemies  ;  4.  Byssus.  —  Examination 
of  the  Eggs.  —  Instruments  for  Picking  out  Eggs. — 
How  to  tell  Dead  Eggs.  —  Method  of  Procedure.  —  Es- 
timating Percentage  of  Impregnation.  —  Time  required 
for  Hatching.  —  Progress  of  the  Eggs.  —  How  to  tell 
Eggs  that  will  produce  Good  Fish.  —  Transportation. 

—  Packing. — Modus  Operandi    ....     112-138 

CHAPTER    III. 

CARE  OF   ALEVINS. 

Hatching  of  the  First  Trout.  —  Duration  of  Yolk-Sac  Pe- 
riod ;  Progress  of.  — -  Instinct  to  hide.  —  New  Instinct. 

—  Indifference  to  Cold.  —  Alevins  easily  Transported. 

—  The  Black  Crook .139-148 

CHAPTER    IV. 

REARING  THE  YOUNG  FRY. 

SECTION  I.  —  Progress  of  Young  Fry,  and  General  Direc- 
tions.—  When  to  begin  to  feed.  —  Method  of  Feeding. 

—  Bright  Prospects.  — r  The  Young  Fry  dying.  —  How 

to  save  them.  —  Further  Progress  .  .  .  149  -  165 
SECTION  II.  —  What  to  do  to  make  the  Young  Fry  live  : 
i.  Have  healthy,  well-fed  Breeders ;  Large  Eggs  how 
produced ;  2.  Develop  strong  and  healthy  Embryos  in 
Egg ;  3.  Provide  Suitable  Place  for  Young  Fry.  —  Points 
to  be  secured  :  a.  No  Possibility  of  Water  being  cut  off; 
b.  New,  unused  Water  essential  ;  c.  Shade  necessary ; 
d.  Must  not  be  crowded  ;  e.  Take  good  Care  of  Fish.  — 
Scepticism  about  raising  Young  Fry.  —  Discussion.  — 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Causes  of  Death  external  and  removable. —  Maxims. 

—  Good  Care  rewarded          .         .         .         .         .     165-176 
SECTION  III.  —  Diseases  of  Trout  Fry.  —  Untrodden  Field. 

—  Diseases  enumerated  :  i.  Fungus  on  the  Egg ;  2.  Par- 
tial Suffocation  of  the  Embryo ;  3.  Strangulation  of  the 
Embryo ;  Seth  Green's  Dropsy,  or  Blue  Swelling  ;  5.  De- 
formity at  Birth  ;  6.  Fungus  on  the  Surface  of  the  Body  ; 
7.  Constitutional  Weakness;  8.  Emaciation ;  9..  Star- 
vation ;  10.  Ulcers  on  the  Head  ;  II   Animal  Parasites ; 
12.  Fin  Disease  ;  13.  Black  Ophthalmia  ;  14.  Irritation 
of  the   Optic  Nerve  ;    15.  Inflammation  of  the  Gills  ; 
16.  Fatty  Degeneration  of  the  Vitals;  17.  Spotted  Rash; 
18.    Strangulation   by   Food;    19.    Cannibalism,    Nib- 
bling; 20.  Overheating;  21.  Suffocation.  — Cautions  176-192 

SECTION  IV.  —  Filling  Orders  for  Young  Fry.  —  Prepara- 
tions. —  Counting.  —  Precautions  in  Travelling  .  192-  196 

CHAPTER    V. 

GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT. 

SECTION  I.  —  Trout  in  general.  —  Scientific  Description  of 
the   Salmo   Fontinalis    (Storer).  —  Trout   the   favorite 
among  Fishes.  —  Suited  to  Domestication.  —  Sight. —     . 
Hearing.  —  Smell.  —  Habitat.  —  Peculiarities.  —  Natu- 
ral Food. —  Age.  —  Weight.        .         .         .        .     197-210 

SECTION  II.  —  Commissary  Department.  —  The  right  Kind 
of  Food.  —  Other  Kinds  of  Food.  —  Care  and  Prepara- 
tion of  the  Meat.  —  Feeding.  —  Daily  Rations  .  210-218 

SECTION  III.  —  How  to  secure  the  Large  Trout  against 
Loss.  — Guard  against :  i.  Freshets  ;  2.  Overstocking  ; 

3.  Heated   Water;    4.    Careless    Handling;    5.    Can- 
nibalism ;   6.  Fouled  Water ;  7.  Natural  Enemies ;  8. 
Poachers.  —  Safeguards  at  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds. 

—  Jack 218-234 

SECTION  IV.  —  How  to  grow  Trout  to  a  very  Large  Size 

and  rapidly.  —  Directions  :  I.  Give  them  Plenty  of  Wa- 
ter ;  2.  Plenty  of  Food ;  3.  Warm  Water  (relatively)  ; 

4.  Range;  5.  Space 234-236 


X  CONTENTS. 

SECTION  V.  —  Daily  Care  of  the  Large  Trout.  —  Little  La- 
bor required. —  Mortality  slight   ....      236,237 
SECTION  VI.  —  Marketing  the  Trout     .        .        .         238  -  240 

CHAPTER  VI. 

CONCLUDING    CHAPTER. 

SECTION  I.  —  Work  in  general  of  a  Trout-Breeding  Estab- 
lishment :  In  Summer ;  Fall  ;  Winter ;  Spring.  —  The 
Pecuniary  View  of  Trout-Growing.  —  Current  Expenses. 
—  Large  Margins  of  Profit.  —  Estimates.  —  Risk.  — 
Sale  of  Spawn.  —  Young  Stock.  —  Prices  Current  241  -  25 1 

SECTION  II.  —  Recapitulation.  —  Summary  of  Directions 
and  Precautions  in  Regard  to  Water,  Ponds,  Nursery, 
Eggs,  Young  Fry,  and  Large  Trout  .  .  .  251-254 

APPENDIX. 

I.   A  New  Discovery.  —  Cure  for  Fungus   .        .     257-261 
II.  Journeys  of  Live  Fish  and  Eggs  .        .         .         262-266 

III.  Odds  and  Ends 267-285 

IV.  Patent  Carbonized  Hatching  Troughs  .         .         286-288 
V.   Brief  Sketch  of  Operations  at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout 

Ponds 289-294 

VI.   Salmon-Breeding    Establishment   on    the    Mirimi- 

chi 295-302 

VII.   Experiments  with  Trout  Eggs  and  Trout     .         303-307 
VIII.   The   Progress   of  Development  of  a   Salmo  Egg 
(Coregomis palaa).    (Vogt.)    Translated  from  the 
French  by  Frances  W.  Webber  .         .         .     308-315 

IX.    Perch  Hatching 316-318 

X.    Organization  of  the  American  Fish  Culturists'  As- 
sociation       .         .         .  .         .        .    319-321 

XI.    Specimens  of  Salmonidae  for  Professor  Agassiz  322-324 

XII.    Marking  Salmon  (Buckland)  .         .         .     325-327 

XIII.   Are  the  Fish  in  the  Sea  diminishing?  (Bertram.)  328-335 

XIV.   Books  on  Fish  Culture        ....         336-342 


DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

PART    I. 

TROUT-BREEDING  WORKS. 


DOMESTICATED    TROUT.* 


CHAPTER  I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

WHEN  the  writer  of  the;fcjl'p<ying  pages  Basked 
Seth  Green,  in    1866,  '^'hbw  many   of  those 
who   engaged  in  trout  Breeding  ^yQ'Jld  '.sue<;e<rjdj",',he 
answered,  with  his  well-known  'quickness  of  manner, 
"  One  in  a  million."     There  was  so  much  wanting,  at 

*  How  fully  the  word  "  domesticated "  will  finally  apply  to 
trout  that  are  bred  and  grown  artificially,  time  alone  can  decide. 
It  is  still  a  very  doubtful  question  whether  they  will  ever  be- 
come so  accustomed  and  attached  to  the  habitations  of  man  that 
they  will  prefer  to  remain  around  his  homes  and  under  his  pro- 
tection, like  dogs  and  fowls,  and  so  become  in  the  strictest 
sense  domestic  creatures. 

Still,  this  result  is  not  impossible,  perhaps  not  improbable. 
Cattle  and  horses  become  as  wild  as  buffaloes  and  deer 
when  left  to  run  wild  long  enough.  Artificial  influences  have 
given  these  creatures  their  domestic  habits.  Why  may  not  a 
sufficiently  long  course  of  similar  influences  create  a  similar 
change  in  the  habits  of  trout  ? 

Trout  are  not  naturally  averse  to  man  in  their  primitive  wildness, 
before  they  have  learned  to  fear  him.  I  have  seen  wild  trout  in  the 
uninhabited  forests  of  New  Brunswick  as  little  disposed  to  avoid 
man  as  sheep  in  a  pasture.  Why,  then,  may  we  not,  by  taking 
away  their  fear  of  man  through  domestication,  restore  that 


4  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

that  time,  in  the  knowledge  required  to  insure  suc- 
cess, that  Mr.  Green's  reply  was  hardly  an  exaggera- 
tion. Since  that  time,  however,  the  whole  aspect  of 
the  matter  has  been  changed,  and  the  care  and  study 
bestowed  on  the  subject  have  evolved  a  set  of  rules 
and  principles,  the  careful  observance  of  which  will 
render  a  degree  of  success  almost  certain.  I  think  it 
may  safely  be  said  that  the  time  has  come  when  trout 
can  be  hatched,  reared,  and  brought  to  maturity  in 
great  numbers  and  with  comparatively  little  loss  ;  and 
I  think  it  is  also  safe  to  say  that  success  in  raising 
the  fish,  vyi-'l  of  n&e'ehsitjf  be!  accompanied  by  pecuniary 
suqce^s  while  the  present 'relations  exist  between  the 
prices  i)f  'trout  and  the.'co.kt  of;  the  food  on  which  they 
are  reared. 

primitive  state  of  feeling  towards  him,  which  is  free  from  aver- 
sion ? 

Again,  I  have  at  my  ponds  trout  that  were  hatched  from 
parents  that  were  themselves  hatched  there  artificially.  Now,  it 
may  have  been  wholly  a  fancy,  but  there  has  seemed  to  me  to  be 
a  difference  between  these  fish  and  the  offspring  of  wild  parents 
in  respect  to  shyness,  and  that  the  artificially  hatched  progeny 
of  domesticated  parents  were  less  shy  than  the  artificially 
hatched  offspring  of  wild  parents.  If  this  is  so,  and  the  trout 
show  an  improvement  in  one  generation,  what  may  we  not  ex- 
pect of  fish  in  which  domestication  has  been  hereditary  for  many 
generations  ? 

The  time  may  come  when  continued  domestication,  together 
with  the  overcoming  of  their  fear  of  man,  will  so  modify  the 
present  action  of  their  instincts,  that,  when  pains  are  taken  with 
the  domesticated  trout,  they  will  prefer  to  seek  the  shelter  and 
food  which  they  find  around  the  homes  of  men  to  the  precarious 
chances  of  a  wild  and  roaming  life.  This  may  not  be  probable, 
but  I  do  not  think  it  is  impossible. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

I  do  riot  wish  to  be  understood,  however,  in  saying 
that  following  certain  rules  will  insure  success,  that  a 
mechanical  adherence  to  rules  will  make  any  one 
succeed.  On  the  contrary,  to  raise  trout  successfully 
demands  a  vast  deal  more  than  that.  It  requires  not 
only  the  ordinary  force,  foresight,  and  tenacity  of  pur- 
pose requisite  to  success  in  any  business,  but  also,  in 
an  unusual  degree,  constant  vigilance  and  caution,  and 
that  peculiar  blending  of  insight,  skill,  and  precision 
which  makes  a  successful  sportsman,  and  which  seems 
to  be  a  gift,  rather  than  an  acquirement. 

I  do  not  say  that  without  these  qualities  a  degree  of 
success  may  not  be  obtained,  but  for  the  best  success 
these  traits  are  indispensable. 

You  can  see  at  once  why  this  is  so.  In  the  first 
place,  the  trout  breeder  has  to  deal  with  the  most 
elusory,  the  most  treacherous  and  capricious  thing  in 
the  world,  namely,  running  water.  To  make  running 
water  go  as  you  would  have  it  and  where  you  would 
have  it,  from  one  year's  end  to  another,  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  weather  of  the  four  seasons,  in- 
cluding the  extremes  of  frost  and  heat,  freshet  and 
drought,  is  a  task  the  difficulty  of  which  only  those 
know  who  have  tried  it.  Then  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  your  charge  is  a  wild  creature,  which  has 
never  been  domesticated  or  taught  domestic  habits,  and 
every  one  knows  the  vast  difference  in  the  difficulty 
of  the  work  between  the  rearing  of  wild  and  domesti- 
cated creatures. 

Furthermore,  the  trout  lives  in  an  element  not  yours, 
but  foreign  to  you,  and  one  which  you  can  never  by  any 


6  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

possibility  learn  the  nature  of  by  living  in  it  yourself; 
and  lastly,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  its  growth  the  de- 
velopments and  functions  of  the  trout  and  the  progress 
of  its  diseases  are  almost  or  wholly  microscopic,  — 
all  of  which  considerations  call  for  a  peculiar  watchful- 
ness and  skill. 

But  though  so  much  is  required  for  great  success,  it 
is  also  true  that  the  knowledge  which  has  now  been 
gained  of  the  art  will  enable  most  persons  to  raise 
trout  with  very  gratifying  results,  and  almost  any  one 
in  a  favorable  locality  can  raise  trout  enough  to  feel 
rewarded  for  his  pains. 

THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  SECURITY. 

Before  taking  up  the  various  branches  and  pro- 
cesses of  trout  raising,  I  beg  to  mention  one  prin- 
ciple, the  most  important,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  of 
any  in  the  whole  prosecution  of  the  enterprise,  and 
one  which,  on  account  of  its  importance,  will  be  im- 
pressed upon  the  reader  at  every  favorable  opportu- 
nity throughout  this  little  treatise.  This  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  insuring  the  utmost  degree  of  security  in  every 
department  of  your  work. 

The  emphasis  with  which  this  principle  of  security 
is  urged  upon  the  trout  culturist  will  be  understood 
when  the  following  points  are  considered. 

i.  All  you  have  to  do  to  be  successful  in  trout 
raising,  or  to  make  your  fortune  from  it,  if  you  have 
a  good  place,  is  to  keep  your  fish  alive  and  growing. 
The  hundred  thousand  trout  you  hatch  this  spring, 
if  you  keep  them  thirty  months,  will  bring  you  thirty 


INTRODUCTION.  / 

thousand  dollars,  if  you  get  only  thirty  cents  apiece 
for  them  ;  and  they  will  be  poor  trout  if  they  do  not 
bring  that. 

This  calculation  is  very  simple,  but  sound.  The  fact 
is,  that  trout  are  produced  in  the  first  instance  in  such 
enormous  quantities,  and  at  so  little  cost,  they  can  be 
raised  with  so  little  outlay  of  money,  and  they  bring, 
when  matured,  such  a  high  price  in  the  market,  that  all 
you  have  to  do  is  to  keep  the  fish  alive  and  growing, 
and  your  success  will  be  all  you  can  wish.  The  prize 
is  already  in  your  hand.  All  you  are  required  to  do 
is  to  hold  it.  Hence  the  importance  of  making  what 
you  have  secure.  It  is  important,  because  that  alone 
will  bring  you  almost  incredible  returns  ;  and  if  secu- 
rity alone  will  make  you  successful,  it  must  be  impor- 
tant. 

2.  The  utmost  degree  of  security  is  demanded,  be- 
cause, when  losses  do  occur,  it  is  generally  on  so  large 
a  scale.  The  peculiar  nature  of  the  things  you  deal 
with,  namely,  fish  and  running  water,  and  the  magnitude 
of  the  numbers  you  operate  with,  are  such  that  there  is 
hardly  an  occupation  in  the  world  where  insecurity 
is  followed  by  such  wholesale  loss.  For  instance,  the 
stream  that  supplies  fifty  thousand  fry  is  cut  off  a  few 
.hours,  we  will  suppose,  in  a  hot  night  in  summer,  by 
an  accident.  In  the  morning  fifty  thousand  trout  are 
dead.  It  is  not  the  loss  of  a  few,  as  the  farmers  in 
the  provinces  lose  their  sheep  by  the  attack  of  the 
black  bear,  or  the  spring  lambs  are  killed  by  foxes, 
but  it  is  the  whole  fifty  thousand.  As  an  illustration 
of  this,  a  visitor,  one  July  evening,  about  seven  o'clock, 


8  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

accidentally  moved  a  small  gate  which  regulated  the 
supply  of  twelve  thousand  fine,  healthy  trout  fry 
belonging  to  the  writer,  and  at  half  past  ten  the 
same  evening  every  fish  was  dead  on  its  back.  The 
gate  was  not  moved  over  an  inch  ;  the  consequence 
was  the  death  of  twelve  thousand  beautiful  young 
trout. 

For  instance,  again,  a  freshet  that  you  have  not 
guarded  against  comes  down  unexpectedly,  and 
sweeps  over  your  ponds  ;  when  the  waters  subside,  you 
will  not  have  lost  one  or  two  of  your  fish,  but,  it  is 
very  likely,  three  fourths  of  them.v  Or  a  screen  inse- 
curely placed  may  let  them  all  go  ;  or  an  epidemic, 
bred  by  foul  meat,  may  take  off  half  your  brood  before 
you  can  check  it. 

A  score  of  instances  within  the  writer's  knowledge 
might  be  mentioned,  where  actual  losses  of  great  mag- 
nitude have  occurred  in  each  one  of  these  ways,  when 
the  only  cause  was  insecurity.  Thus  it  is  seen  that 
losses,  when  they  do  occur,  are  frequently  so  disastrous 
that  no  degree  of  security  in  guarding  against  them 
seems  excessive.  As  in  business,  so  in  trout  raising, 
the  magnitude  of  the  risk  calls  for  a  corresponding 
degree  of  security. 

3.  The  utmost  security  is  also  necessary  in  trout, 
raising,  because  the  dangers  are  so  incessant  and  so 
constantly  present.  Plant  your  corn  in  the  field,  or 
turn  your  sheep  out  to  pasture,  and  they  are  tolerably 
safe  ;  their  dangers  come  seldom,  and  their  enemies 
are  few ,  but  hatch  your  trout  in  the  water,  and  not 
a  moment,  by  day  or  by  night,  are  they  free  from 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

danger,  and  there  is  not  a  moment  when  they  are 
not  surrounded  by  mortal  enemies. 

Frogs,  lizards,  land  and  water  snakes,  water-beetles, 
the  caddis-worms,  land-rats  and  water-rats,  mice, 
minks,  weasels,  kingfishers,  herons  of  several  kinds,  and 
even  cats,  are  on  the  alert  for  them  all  the  time,  and, 
after  they  have  once  found  them,  will  visit  them  every 
day  or  night  as  long  as  they  last.  The  unprotected 
trout  are  like  a  flock  of  sheep  in  the  haunts  of  pan- 
thers and  wolves  on  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  have 
about  as  much  chance  of  surviving. 

Their  danger  is  incessant.  It  is  not  once  a  week 
or  once  a  month  that  their  enemies  come  for  them, 
but  every  day  and  every  night  of  their  lives,  if  they 
are  unprotected  ;  and  every  week  the  number  of  crea- 
tures that  feed  on  them  will  increase.  It  is  surprising 
how  fast  kingfishers,  herons,  frogs,  and  snakes  will 
multiply  around  a  well-filled  and  unprotected  trout 
pond.  Furthermore,  there  is  the  constant  danger 
from  the  water  itself  which  sustains  them,  either  of 
its  overflowing,  or  running  short,  or  of  getting  too 
warm,  or  becoming  unwholesome,  —  all  which  accidents 
are  likely  to  happen  and  to  be  attended  with  fatal  re- 
sults. The  constant  presence  of  these  dangers  ren- 
ders it  doubly  important  to  make  security  your  first 
thought  in  raising  trout 

4.  This  is  not  all  ;  the  sources  of  danger  to  which 
your  fish  are  exposed  are  of  the  invisible,  intangible 
kind,  that  keep  out  of  your  sight  and  out  of  your 
reach,  and  for  that  very  reason  security  becomes  ten- 
fold more  needful.  Many  of  their  dangers  come  when 
i* 


IO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

they  are  least  expected;  they  do  their  work  unseen, 
often  in  the  dark,  and  leave  no  trace  of  their  presence. 

For  example,  one  or  two  of  the  fine  threads  in  the 
screen  of  your  hatching  trough  may  be  worn  through, 
or  there  may  be  some  small  undiscovered  crevice  in 
a  corner  of  your  nursery,  and  day  after  day,  for  weeks, 
the  little  creatures  may  be  slipping  through  and  escap- 
ing, and  an  immense  loss  occur  before  you  even  sus- 
pect the  cause  of  the  mysterious  waste. 

Or  the  cover  of  your  hatching  trough,  although  to 
all  appearances  tight,  may  be  loose  enough  to  admit 
a  mouse,  and  every  night  for  a  month  he  and  his 
companions  may  come  into  the  trough,  and  feed  on 
your  alevin  trout  in  the  corners,  where  they  swarm  by 
thousands ;  and  yet,  when  morning  comes,  not  a  sign 
or  a  trace  may  you  discover  to  show  that  anything 
has  gone  wrong,  except  that  your  fish  are  daily  dimin- 
ishing. Or  it  may  happen  that  a  muskrat,  out  of  sight 
under  the  earth,  is  boring  a  hole  that  will  let  your 
fish  out,  when  you  think  they  are  perfectly  secure ; 
or  a  mink,  wholly  unexpected,  may  have  quartered 
himself  in  one  of  your  ponds ;  or  the  invisible  fungus 
may,  without  your  knowledge,  be  gathering  in  the  gills 
of  your  young  fry,  to  their  certain  future  destruction. 
Such  is  the  occult  character  of  many  of  the  dangers 
which  threaten  the  lives  of  your  trout,  and  hence  the 
need  of  extreme  security  in  raising  them  is  such  that 
it  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  Labor,  patience,  and 
constant  care  are  required  to  be  successful ;  but  the 
one  consideration  which  ranks  above  all  others  is  to 
guard  them  from  every  species  of  insecurity. 


INTRODUCTION.  1 1 

SELECTING  THE  WATER. 

The  first  thing  to  do,  in  getting  ready  to  raise  trout, 
is  to  find  suitable  water.  This  is  a  very  important 
part  of  your  preparations,  for  it  is  the  element  that 
your  trout  are  to  spend  their  lives  in  ;  and  if  there  is 
anything  wrong  about  the  water,  it  will  sooner  or  later 
show  itself  in  fatal  results. 

In  looking  for  suitable  water,  the  following  precau- 
tions should  in  no  instance  be  overlooked. 

i.  Be  sure  that  there  will  always  be  water  enough 
for  your  purposes.  To  decide  upon  this,  you  must  be 
guided  by  the  amount  of  water  flowing  in  the  hottest 
week  of  the  dryest  time  in  the  summer. 

This  is  your  guide  :  the  stream  or  spring  is  worth 
no  more  than  what  it  will  do  at  its  very  warmest  and 
lowest  time.  It  seems  like  reflecting  on  the  reader's 
intelligence  to  insist  on  this  precaution,  yet  thousands 
and  thousands  of  fish  have  been  lost  by  neglecting  it.* 

Great  care  ought  to  be  exercised  to  guard  against 
being  misled  by  deceptive  appearances. 

When  you  see  a  brook  sweeping  along  in  the  spring 
at  its  flood  height,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  realize 
that  the  swollen  stream  can  become,  as  it  often  does, 
a  dry  or  nearly  dry  channel.  Therefore,  when  you 
select  your  brook,  either  see  it  yourself  in  its  dryest 
state,  or  take  the  testimony  of  some  perfectly  reliable 

*  I  once  received  a  letter  from  a  man  who  wanted  to  know 
"  what  kind  of  fish  he  could  raise  in  a  brook  which  was  quite 
large  eight  months  in  the  year,  and  dried  up  wholly  during  the 
other  four." 


12  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

person  who  has  seen  it  thus  ;  and  if  from  what  you 
see  or  hear  you  are  led  to  believe  that  it  is  possible  for 
the  supply  of  water  to  become  insufficient,  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it.  Overcome  all  temptations  to  try  it, 
and  look  elsewhere. 

2.  Be  sure  that  no  freshets  which  can  carry  away  or 
overflow  your  works  are  possible.     In  deciding  upon 
the  character  of  your  stream,  in  this  respect  allowance 
should  be  also  made,  as  in  the  former  case,  for  decep- 
tive appearances,  though  in  just  the  opposite  direction. 
It   is  so  very  difficult  to  believe   that  the   harmless 
little  rivulet  of  August  can  become  a  resistless  torrent 
in  October,  that  many  persons  are  apt  to  be  misled  by 
the  deceptive  appearance,  and  will  actually  go  to  work 
on  a  stream  liable  to  freshets,  and  will  build  ponds, 
and  will  stock  them,  at  great  expense,  with  no  guar- 
anty whatever  that  the  next  fall  or  spring  flood  will 
not,    as   it  generally  proves,  sweep  everything  away. 
Trust  to  no  probabilities,  but  make  sure  that  no  fresh- 
ets can  come  that  can  do  you  damage,  or,  at  least,  that 
no  such  freshet  ever  has  come.     If  this  is  not  made 
sure  of,  a  single  night  will  destroy  the  work  of  years. 

Brooks  subject  to  moderate  freshets  that  can  be 
controlled  are  not  necessarily  objectionable  ;  they  need 
not  be  given  up,  if  the  expense  of  carrying  off  the  sur- 
plus water  is  not  too  great ;  but  a  brook  where  the 
freshets  cannot  be  wholly  guarded  against  is  a  delusion 
and  a  snare,  and  ought  to  be  utterly  avoided. 

3.  Be  sure  that  the  water  does  not  heat  up  in  the 
summer   to   an   unwholesome    point.     Many    brooks 
which   have   the  appearance   of  being  perfect   trout 


INTRODUCTION.  1 3 

streams  are  worthless  from  becoming  too  warm  in  the 
summer.  Here,  also,  the  test  should  be  the  hottest 
day  of  the  dryest  time.  For  it  should  be  remembered 
that  one  day  of  freshet,  drought,  or  intense  heat  may 
do  as  much  mischief,  in  taking  away  your  trout,  as  six 
months  of  the  same  might  do. 

The  waters  otherwise  suitable,  which  are  most  to  be 
dreaded  on  account  of  their  excessive  heat,  are  outlets 
of  ponds  or  lakes,  and  such  as  are  at  the  fish  preserves 
distant  from  their  sources.  These  waters,  though  peren- 
nial and  of  even  flow,  and  fed  by  springs,  may  yet, 
from  too  much  exposure  to  the  sun  or  air,  be  wholly 
unfit  to  keep  trout  alive,  by  reason  of  their  temperature 
rising  too  high. 

This  objection  is  not  always  so  imperative  as  the 
other  two  just  mentioned,  because  there  are  two  ways 
of  obviating  it  to  some  extent,  viz.  : —  i.  By  putting 
ice  in  the  stream.  2.  By  taking  the  water  fiom  near 
its  source,  through  a  pipe  under  ground.  The  first 
remedy  often  involves  so  much  risk,  as  well  as 
expense  and  necessity  of  constant  vigilance  in  hot 
weather,  that  it  had  better  not  be  contemplated, 
except  in  cases  of  great  counterbalancing  advantages. 
The  latter  remedy,  however,  when  it  will  pay,  is  usually 
practicable,  and  will  do  if  it  can  be  made  safe.  But, 
at  all  events,  make  sure  either  that  the  water  will  keep 
cool  of  itself,  or  that  you  can  and  will  keep  it  cool 
enough  by  one  method  or  another. 

Under  this  head  it  may  be  suggested  that  the  quan- 
tity and  force  of  current  and  vigor  *  of  the  water  have 

*  I  cannot  exactly  define  the  word  "  vigor  "  in  its  present  ap- 


14  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

much  to  do  with  the  degree  of  temperature  at  which 
trout  will  live.  For  instance,  when  water  does  not  pos- 
sess much  vigor,  is  deficient  in  quantity,  and  sluggish, 
it  will  not  support  trout  life  in  so  high  a  temperature  as 
when  it  is  vigorous,  plentiful,  and  rapid.  I  think  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  sluggish  flat  water  at  70°  is  dangerous, 
if  not  fatal,  to  trout ;  while  they  will  live  in  vigorous 
rapid  water  which  occasionally  runs  to  80°.  I  have 
found  85°  to  be  fatal  to  them  in  all  kinds  of  water. 

4.  Be  sure  that  the  water  you  select  is  intrinsically 
favorable  to  trout.  Be  very  careful  about  using  any 
brook  or  spring  which  can  possibly  receive  the  dis- 
charge of  a  tannery  or  mill,  or  drainage  discharging 
any  poisonous  substance.  The  presence  of  some  lime 
in  the  water  naturally  is  not  necessarily  an  objection  ; 
for  trout  do  live  in  limestone  regions,  and  in  water 
having  some  lime  in  it.  So  of  iron  ;  but  too  much  of 
either  in  the  water  will  kill  them.  The  best  test  of 
this  point  that  you  can  possibly  get  is  that  the 
stream  is  a  natural  trout  brook.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
it  is  not  a  natural  trout  brook,  or  has  not  been  one,  be 
very  shy  of  it ;  there  is  some  good  cause  why  trout 
do  not  inhabit  it,  and  the  cause  is  probably  to  be 
found  in  the  unsuitableness  of  the  water. 

It  is  no  objection  to  a  stream  where  trout  are  raised 
that  it  is  occasionally  turbid,  or  even  muddy.  Such 

plication,  nor  can  I  find  a  better  word  to  give  my  meaning.  In 
drinking  water,  we  distinguish  between  that  which  is  flat  and 
that  which  is  sparkling.  What  we  call  sparkling  water,  when 
we  drink  it,  I  mean  by  vigorous  water  in  a  trout  brook.  There 
are  very  great  differences  in  this  respect,  as  all  are  aware. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

water,  though  injurious  to  eggs,  is  wholesome  and 
beneficial  to  the  fully  formed  fish  of  all  ages. 

It  is  always  a  good  precaution,  where  a  stream  is  used 
which  has  no  trout  in  it  naturally,  to  put  in  a  few  and 
keep  them  there  the  year  round,  and  see  how  it  suits 
them,  before  adopting  it  fully  as  a  trout-breeding  water. 

There  is  some  conflict  of  opinion  about  the  compar- 
ative value  of  spring  and  brook  water  for  raising  trout. 
As  a  rule,  I  think  generally,  all  things  considered,  that 
spring-water  is  best  for  hatching,  and  brook-water  is 
the  best  for  raising  trout.  It  is  said  that  brook-water 
is  more  natural  for  hatching  ;  that  it  hatches  the  trout 
out  at  a  better  time,  namely,  in  the  spring,  and  that 
the  young  fry,  when  they  do  come  out,  are  uncommonly 
lively.  It  is  not  certain,  however,  that  brook-water  is 
more  natural  than  spring-water  for  hatching,  for  in  many 
brooks,  and  in  most  of  those  with  which  I  am  acquaint- 
ed, half  the  fish  lay  their  eggs  in  spring-holes,  or  so  near 
the  spring-sources  of  the  stream  that  it  is  practically 
spring-water  that  they  are  hatched  in.  Then,  again,  it 
is  a  doubtful  advantage,  if  any,  to  have  them  hatch  late  ; 
and  lastly,  they  are  not  sure,  by  any  means,  to  make 
better  trout  for  being  unusually  lively  in  the  earlier 
days  of  their  infancy. 

On  the  other  hand,  spring-water  possesses,  for  hatch- 
ing, the  vast  advantage  over  brook-water  of  being  safer. 

I  think  that  in  hatching,  except  in  very  rare  instan- 
ces, brook-water  can  have  no  advantages  which  can 
begin  to  offset  this  great  counterbalancing  advantage 
of  safety.  You  cannot  be  too  sure  of  the  water  which 
flows  over  your  eggs.  In  most  brooks  you  cannot  be 


1 6  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

sure  that  there  will  not  be  trouble  in  the  course  of 
the  winter  from  a  stoppage  of  water,  an  overflow, 
sediment,  or  injury  to  the  water  above.  At  any  rate, 
with  a  brook,  your  risk,  on  account  of  these  dangers, 
is  vastly  increased.  But  with  a  spring  there  is  an  even 
flow,  a  steady  temperature,  very  little  danger  of  stop- 
page of  the  water  or  injury  to  it,  and  the  whole  thing 
is  compact  and  well  in  hand. 

These  considerations  will,  in  the  long  run,  give  the 
spring-water  for  hatching  purposes  a  very  decided  ad- 
vantage over  brook-water. 

Brook- water,  again,  is  best  to  raise  trout  in.  Spring- 
water,  just  emerging  from  the  darkness  of  the  interior 
of  the  earth,  is  cold,  wholly  free  from  animal  and  vege- 
table life,  and  deficient  in  that  peculiar  vitality  which 
its  flow  through  the  open  air  and  sunshine  imparts  to  it. 
Trout  will  not  grow  fast,  will  remain  small,  and  will 
develop  small  ova,  in  such  water. 

Brook-water,  on  the  contrary,  possessing  the  qualities 
which  spring-water  lacks,  is  much  more  nutritious,  if  I 
may  use  the  word,  will  grow  trout  rapidly,  will  give 
them  a  good  size,  and  will  develop  large  eggs  in  the 
fish.  For  these  reasons  it  is,  if  safe,  better  than  spring- 
water  for  raising  trout. 

It  should  be  mentioned  here,  however,  that  cold  wa- 
ter makes  a  hardier  and  firmer-fleshed  fish,  and  is  less 
favorable  to  disease.  It  is  consequently  better,  some- 
times, when  there  is  any  tendency  to  disease,  to  keep 
the  very  young  fry  in  the  spring-water  until  they  have 
acquired  some  firmness  of  bone  and  flesh. 

The  best  water  advantages  of  all  are  perhaps  found 


INTRODUCTION.  I/ 

where  both  spring  and  safe  brook  water  are  at  one's 
command,  and  either  or  both  can  be  employed  at 
pleasure.*  The  brook-water  can  then  be  used,  if  de- 
sired, while  it  is  safe,  and  a  mixture  of  spring  and 
brook  can  be  so  graduated  as  to  make  the  eggs  hatch 
at  any  desired  time  between  the  minimum  and  maxi- 
mum periods  of  incubation.  In  the  long  run,  however, 
I  think  experience  will  prove  that  a  large  spring 
of  even  temperature  and  even  flow  is  about  as  good 
as  anything  for  hatching  the  eggs. 

*  This  is  the  case  at  the  Mirimichi  Salmon-Breeding  Works. 


CHAPTER   II. 
PONDS. 

THE  first  questions  you  will  ask  yourself,  when 
you  have  decided  that  you  have  suitable  water 
for  your  purposes,  are,  where  shall  the  ponds  be  located, 
at  what  points  on  the  stream  shall  the  ponds  be  built, 
and  how  shall  they  be  constructed  ? 

In  answering  these  inquiries,  a  great  variety  of  con- 
siderations of  a  special  character  will  come  in,  such 
as  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  lay  of  the  land,  and  your 
personal  tastes,  which  you  can  best  settle  for  yourself 
without  help  ;  but  there  are  other  considerations  of  a 
general  character  which  should  be  noticed  here,  and 
among  them  are  the  following. 

i.  The  water  you  have  is  to  be  used  for  three  dis- 
tinct purposes,  —  for  the  hatching  apparatus,  for  the 
nursery,  and  for  the  ponds  of  the  mature  trout,  —  and 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  water  which  may 
be  good  for  one  of  these  may  not  be  good  for  another. 

For  instance,  the  cold,  barren  water,  just  emerging 
from  the  earth,  though  just  the  thing  for  hatching 
eggs,  is,  from  its  cold  and  unnutritious  character,  poor 
water  to  fatten  mature  fish  in  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
brook-water,  full  of  animal  life,  which  is  just  the  thing 
on  that  account  for  the  mature  trout,  may,  from  its 


PONDS.  19 

liability  to  sediment,  or  intractable  character,  or  other 
causes,  be  extremely  unsuitable  for  hatching.  In 
locating  your  ponds,  then,  these  three  departments 
should  be  kept  distinct  in  the  mind  ;  and  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  works  belonging  to  each  should 
be  so  built  in  reference  to  their  distinctive  require- 
ments, and  also  with  reference  to  each  other,  that, 
when  they  are  finished,  each  will  have  its  proper  water 
advantages,  the  precedence,  when  there  is  choice  of 
water,  being  always  given  to  the  first  two  named, 
the  hatching  apparatus  and  the  nursery.  Nature  has 
done  so  much  in  some  trout-pond  localities  that  very 
little  foresight  is  required  in  this  respect ;  but  in  many, 
especially  where  the  water  has  to  be  used  over  once 
or  twice,  the  exercise  of  considerable  forethought  will 
be  well  repaid. 

2.  Get  your  ponds,  whenever  you  can  without  great 
inconvenience,  either  wholly  or  partly  by  excavating 
the  earth,  rather  than  by  damming  up  the  stream. 
This  is  for  safety ;  with  the  bulk  of  the  water  above 
the  level  of  the  adjacent  land,  you  are  never  secure. 
I  never  saw  a  trout-pond  dam  in  my  life  that  I  con- 
sidered absolutely  safe. 

Recollect  that  muskrats,  frost,  and  decay  are  the 
active  enemies  of  your  pond  walls,  and  their  work  is 
correspondingly  mischievous  in  the  degree  that  the 
ponds  are  raised  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
land.  As  I  said,  I  never  saw  a  trout-pond  dam  that 
was  safe  to  hold  trout  in ;  but  I  have  seen  more  un- 
safe ones  than  I  can  think  of,  that  sooner  or  later  led 
to  disastrous  losses  by  breaking  away  and  letting  out 


2O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

the  fish.  Excavated  ponds  are  the  only  safe  ones. 
Let  your  rule  be,  when  possible,  to  excavate  rather 
than  dam  up. 

3.  Build  your  ponds  as  compactly  as  possible.    This 
might  be  said  of  your  whole  establishment  also.    Have 
all  your  ponds  and  works  as  near  together  as  other 
more  important  considerations  will  allow.     In  rainy 
weather,  and  deep  snows,  and  times  of  danger,  you 
will  appreciate  this. 

4.  Build  all  your  ponds  small  that  mean  business. 
Never  break  over   this  rule.     Make   your   ponds  for 
sport  as  large  as  you  please,  and   I   should  say  the 
larger  the  better ;  but  when  you  mean  business,  build 
small.     The  greatest  nuisance  in  the  world,  in  a  trout- 
breeding   establishment,   is  a  large  pond,  where  the 
trout  are  out  of  control,  and  do  as  they  please,  and  go 
as  they  please,  wholly  regardless  of  your  convenience. 
This  rule  should   always  be  observed,  namely,  never 
to  let  a  trout  escape  to  any  place  where  you  cannot  get 
at  it,  observe  it,  and  capture  it  at  a  moment's  notice. 

It  is  just  as  ridiculous,  in  the  present  stage  of  trout- 
breeding  at  least,  to  turn  out  your  trout  in  a  large 
pond,  where  they  can  get  away  from  you,  as  it  is  to 
turn  out  your  sheep  or  cattle  in  an  unfenced  moun- 
tain-pasture, where  you  will  never  hear  from  them 
again  unless  you  fit  out  a  regular  hunting  expedition 
to  look  them  up.  In  course  of  time,  when  trout 
become  as  plentiful  as  the  cattle  and  horses  in  South 
American  pampas,  this  will  do,  perhaps  ;  but  now,  when 
trout  are  as  scarce  as  they  are,  and  worth  a  dollar  a 
pound,  you  want  to  have  them  where  they  cannot 


PONDS.  21 

possibly  get  away  from  you,  or  even  permanently  out  of 
your  sight ;  consequently,  your  ponds  should  be  built 
small. 

5.  Have  a  fall,  and  as  much  of  one  as  you  can, 
at  the  head  of  each  pond  ;  this  is  not  essential,  but 
very  desirable,  as  then  the  water  comes  full  of  air  and 
life  directly  on  your  fish,  which  is  worth  a  great  deal. 
You  can  keep  more  fish  in  the  pond  by  it,  they  will 
be  healthier,  and  will  grow  better. 

6.  I  think  it  is  a  good  plan  to  locate  your  ponds  far 
enough  from  the  fountain-head  of  the  stream  for  the 
water,  by  running  through  the  air  and  sunlight,  to  have 
changed  its  character  from  cold  barren  spring-water 
to  warmer  and  more  nutritious  brook-water.     It  will 
soon  acquire  this  brook  character,  especially  if  it  is 
spread  out  over  considerable  surface.     Indeed,  a  pond 
having  a  large  surface  exposed  to  the  sun,  built  directly 
over  the  spring,  answers  very  well ;   but  trout  will  not 
grow  fast  or  fatten  easily  in  a  deep,  small  spring-hole 
or  spring-water  pond,  not  much  exposed  to  the  sun. 
Do  not  infer  from  this  that  trout  need  to  be  in  the 
sun  ;  it  is  not  the  trout,  but  the  water  that  the  trout 
live  in,  that  requires  the  sunlight.     Brook-water  which 
has  a  good  deal  of  sunlight  in  it  is  better  for  ponds 
than  spring-water  with  none. 

7.  If  your  dwelling-house  for  yourself  or  keeper  is 
built,  then   try  to  locate  your  ponds   as  near  to  the 
house  as  possible,  within  sight  at  least.    If  your  house 
is  not  built,  then  build  it  very  near  your  ponds.     This 
I  consider  an  important  item,  as  experience  is  sure  to 
teach. 


22  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

You  are  never  entirely  safe  from  poachers,  it  is  true, 
but  your  security  is  much  greater  for  living  near 
your  ponds.  Herons,  kingfishers,  minks,  and  other 
destructive  animals,  are  also  less  likely  to  frequent 
your  ponds  if  your  house  is  near. 

Then,  besides  the  general  advantages  of  always 
being  near,  and  having  y®ur  ponds  in  sight,  you  will 
many  times,  when  a  sudden  shower  comes  up,  or  in 
some  other  case  of  need,  go  to  the  ponds,  when,  if  you 
lived  farther  off,  you  would,  pernaps,  not  think  it  worth 
the  while.  In  the  course  of  time  the  lack  of  this 
advantage  will  surely  show  itself  in  your  record  of 
losses. 

8.  You  cannot  exercise  too  much  caution  in  making 
your  ponds  secure.  To  this  end,  I  would  recommend 
that  every  pond  and  every  aqueduct  on  your  place  be 
built  of  two-inch  plank.  Had  I  followed  this  rule 
when  I  began  five  years  ago,  I  should  have  saved 
thousands  and  thousands  of  fish.  I  have  had  all 
sorts  of  ponds  and  dams,  and  have  had  them  built  by 
experienced  workmen,  and  warranted  to  stand  twenty 
years  ;  but  not  a  single  pond  has  held,  out  of  twenty- 
three  that  I  have  built,  except  my  plank  ponds.  Some 
of  them  have  stood  for  five  years  to  perfection.  Mean- 
while, there  has  been  no  end  of  vexation,  annual  ex- 
pense, and  loss,  caused  by  the  other  ponds  breaking 
away ;  and  if  I  began  over  again,  I  would  build  every- 
thing from  beginning  to  end,  that  the  water  flowed 
through,  of  two-inch  plank.  Stone,  concrete,  cement, 
and  similar  substances,  may  answer  as  well,  perhaps,  for 
single  ponds ;  but  for  a  material  to  be  used  through- 


PONDS.  23 

out  I  prefer  plank,  because  it  can  always  be  de- 
pended upon,  repairs  can  be  easily  made,  a  screen 
can  be  readily  put  in  anywhere,  a  tight  joint  can  always 
be  formed  without  trouble,  tighter  and  more  convenient 
connections  can  be  made  with  the  streams,  and,  on 
the  whole,  it  stands  the  test  of  time  and  weather,  and 
of  both  the  routine  and  emergencies  of  experience,  bet- 
ter than  anything  I  know  of.* 

If  you  object  to  the  want  of  durability  of  wood  and 
its  unsuitableness  for  fish,  char  the  plank  an  eighth  of 
an  inch  deep  all  round,  and  then  you  have  both  a  dura- 
ble and  a  suitable  material. 

I  do  not,  however,  insist  upon  the  necessity  of  using 
plank,  if  you  think  you  have  something  better.  I 
only  give  the  lessons  of  my  own  experience  ;  but,  what- 
ever you  use,  be  sure  that  it  is  safe,  that  it  will 
resist  the  muskrats,  the  weather,  the  frost,  and  the 
natural  tendency  to  displacement,  which,  I  suppose, 
all  materials  in  the  earth  or  on  its  surface  are  sub- 
ject to. 

If  it  is  necessary  to  build  a  dam,  I  would  recom- 
mend to  the  inexperienced  to  procure,  by  all  means, 
the  skill  of  an  engineer,  or  practical  dam-builder,  who 
understands  the  nature  of  running  water  ;  for  to  con- 
fine running  water  securely  is  an  art  in  itself,  and  a 
beginner  is  almost  sure  to  make  a  mistake  somewhere, 
for  which  in  the  end  he  will  pay  a  heavy  penalty  in 
losses. 

Running  water  is  the  most  treacherous  of  all  things, 

*  These  remarks  are  intended,  of  course,  for  business  ponds. 
It  does  not  matter  much  what  amateur  ponds  are  built  of. 


24  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

and  is  always  seeking  to  run  in  a  different  channel 
from  that  artificially  provided  for  it ;  and  if  there  is 
a  weak  spot  anywhere  about  the  sides  of  the  dam 
or  pond,  the  water  will  find  it,  and  sooner  or  later, 
with  the  help  of  muskrats  and  frost,  will  bore  a  hole 
through  it,  and  very  likely  this  will  happen  in  some 
place  where  you  have  never  dreamed  of  its  going. 
Once  having  gained  an  advantage,  it  never  loses  it, 
but  will  render  your  pond  more  and  more  unsafe, 
till  you  make  an  entire  reconstruction  of  it  or  aban- 
don it. 

Employ  an  experienced  man,  then,  to  build  the  dam, 
if  you  must  have  one,  and  tell  him  to  make  it  doubly 
safe ;  and  even  then,  if  your  experience  is  like  mine, 
you  will  be  sorry  you  built  it. 

9.  The  shape  of  the  ponds  should  be  adapted  to 
your  water  supply.  If  you  have  plenty  of  water  at  a 
low  temperature,  build  the  ponds  of  any  shape  you 
like  so  that  they  are  not  too  large.  If  your  water 
supply  is  small  and  cold,  make  your  ponds  narrow 
and  shallow.  If  the  supply  is  small,  and  liable  to 
heat  up,  make  them  narrower  still,  and  deep.  Indeed, 
a  deep  ditch  is  the  best  thing  where  you  have  neither 
cold  nor  plentiful  water.  With  average  water,  experi- 
ence favors  oblong  ponds,  not  over  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  in  width,  nor  over  three  or  four  feet  in  depth, 
and  of  any  desirable  length  ;  these  ponds  can  be 
easily  inspected,  easily  swept  with  a  seine,  and  will 
have  no  places  of  concealment  for  the  fish  to  hide 
away  in. 

I  think  it  is  a  good  plan  to  have  the  ponds  deepest 


PONDS.  25 

in  the  middle,  and  to  diminish  in  depth  towards  both 
ends,  so  as  to  grade  off  to  nothing  at  the  inlet  and 
outlet.  Such  ponds  keep  the  cleanest.  If  the  pond 
is  deep  at  the  lower  end,  in  the  course  of  years  a  good 
deal  of  refuse  and  unclean  matter  will  collect  there, 
which  you  would  rather  have  out  of  the  pond,  and 
which  would  have  naturally  worked  off  at  the  outlet 
if  the  bottom  of  the  pond  gradually  shelved  up  to- 
wards it. 

10.  Always,  if  possible,  have  your  ponds  so  ar- 
ranged that  you  can  draw  off  the  water,  if  necessary. 
When  you  want  to  make  repairs  or  changes  in  the 
pond,  or  wish  to  clean  it  out,  this  will  be  found  a  great 
convenience  ;  but  it  is  especially  serviceable  when  you 
want  to  use  the  pond  for  smaller  fish  than  have  been 
living  in  it,  for  it  is  never  quite  safe  to  put  small  fish 
in  a  pond  which  has  been  stocked  with  larger  ones, 
unless  it  is  drawn  off. 

Trout  have  such  a  wonderful  faculty  for  getting  out 
of  sight,  that  even  in  the  best-constructed  ponds,  where 
the  water  is  not  drawn  off,  they  will  often  elude  your 
search,  and  one  or  two  fish  may  still  be  left  in  the 
pond  after  you  have,  as  you  believe,  examined  it  thor- 
oughly and  taken  them  all  out.  I  need  not  say  how 
mischievous  the  mistake  would  prove.  Instances 
could  be  cited  of  hosts  of  small  fish  having  been  de- 
stroyed by  one  or  two  large  ones,  left  unwittingly  in  the 
pond.  Therefore  have  your  pond,  if  possible,  so  that 
you  can  draw  it  off  if  required,  and  always  do  so  when 
you  are  going  to  substitute  small  fish  for  large  ones 
in  it. 

2 


26  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

ii.  Allow  no  hiding-places  in  your  pond  which  you 
cannot  remove  at  pleasure.  They  almost  always  lead 
to  mischief.  A  dead  fish,  perhaps,  will  get  in  them 
without  your  knowledge,  and  foul  the  water  ;  or  a  mink 
will  make  use  of  them,  and  elude  you  for  weeks,  or, 
more  likely  than  all,  a  large  cannibal  trout  will  hide 
there  and  prey  on  the  smaller  ones  for  months,  undis- 
covered by  you.  On  the  other  hand,  provide  all  the 
movable  hiding-places  within  your  control  that  you 
please,  —  the  more,  up  to  a  reasonable  extent,  the  bet- 
ter, —  but  never  let  them  get  out  of  your  control,  or 
exist  without  your  having  access  to  them.  The  safe- 
guards against  outside  dangers,  which  all  ponds  should 
possess,  are  very  important,  and  would,  perhaps,  more 
naturally  come  in  here,  but  they  will  be  considered 
under  the  head  of  "  The  Care  of  Mature  Trout."  * 

NUMBER  OF  PONDS. 

There  is  no  regulation  number  of  ponds  for  a  trout- 
grower  to  be  governed  by.  The  best  rule  is  to  build 
all  you  want ;  the  usual  number,  three,  recommended 
in  books,  being  no  guide  to  go  by.  You  will  certainly 
want  three,  and  probably  several  more.  I  have  often 
found  ten  quite  few  enough.  You  may  be  sure  of 
this,  that  you  will  in  time  have  two  sizes  of  young  fry, 
two  sizes  of  yearlings,  and  at  least  three  sizes  of  older 
ones,  which  should  be  kept  apart. 

Besides  the  ponds  for  these,  you  will  find  a  minnow- 
pond,  a  pond  for  rare  fish,f  and  two  or  three  experi- 

*  See  pp.  227  -  234. 

t  At  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  there  is  a  pond  twenty  feet 


PONDS.  27 

ment  ponds  convenient.  I  should  say,  build  all  the 
ponds  you  please,  if  you  have  water  enough  ;  you  will 
not  have  too  many. 

SPAWNING  BEDS. 

The  spawning  beds  consist  simply  of  a  long  narrow 
flume,  or  raceway,  at  the  head  of  the  ponds,  where 
the  fish  come  up  to  spawn.  They  should  be  built  at 
the  very  upper  end  of  the  pond,  and  should  have  a 
good  current  of  water  running  through  them.  They 
are  generally  made  of  plank,  and  should  be  at  least 
thirty  feet  long,  with  sides  eighteen  inches  deep. 

From  the  lower  end  of  the  spawning  beds,  the  slope 
should  be  gradual  to  the  lowest  level  of  the  bottom  of 
the  pond.  If  the  slope  is  abrupt,  the  fish  are  not  so 
likely  to  go  up  the  races,  and  are  more  likely  to  spawn 
in  the  pond.  The  width  of  the  spawning  race  will  de- 
pend on  the  volume  of  the  stream,  it  being  an  essential 
point  to  secure  a  lively  current  over  the  beds.  Where 
there  is  plenty  of  water,  the  raceways  should  be  four 
feet  wide.  If  the  water  supply  is  small,  two  feet,  and 
even  eighteen  inches,  will  do.  There  should  be  trans- 
verse bars  placed  on  the  bottom,  across  the  whole 
width,  high  enough  to  make  the  water  above  them 
from  four  to  twelve  inches  deep.  The  more  water  you 
have,  the  deeper  you  can  afford  .to  make  the  water  in 
the  beds,  without  dulling  the  current  too  much. 

square,  called  the  happy-family  pond,  where  nine  different  kinds 
of  large  fish  are  kept  together,  including  glass-eyed  pike,  mul- 
lets, black  bass,  and  others.  Although  not  profitable,  I  have  al- 
ways found  it  sufficiently  interesting  to  make  it  worth  while  to 
keep  it  up. 


28  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

In  the  spawning  season,  a  layer  of  coarse  clean 
gravel,  three  or  four  inches  deep,  should  be  thrown 
into  these  beds.  They  should  be  closely  covered,  and 
generally  your  whole  force  of  water  turned  on. 

The  trout  will  come  up  here  to  spawn  in  preference 
to  any  other  place  in  the  pond,  and  it  is  here  that 
they  are  trapped  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  their 
eggs. 

The  continued  daily  disturbing  of  them  for  this  pur- 
pose will  sometimes  —  and  usually,  I  think  —  drive 
them  down  the  stream  a  little  lower,  towards  the  end 
of  the  season. 

It  is  therefore  a  good  plan  to  cover  and  prepare  only 
the  upper  half  of  the  beds  at  first,  and  to  trap  the  fish 
there  at  the  beginning  of  the  season,  so  that  when  they 
fall  back,  on  account  of  being  disturbed,  they  will  not 
drop  far  enough  down  the  stream  to  spawn  below  the 
lower  beds,  which,  when  the  proper  time  comes,  can  be 
made  ready  and  covered  like  the  rest. 

We  have  thus  far  treated  wholly  of  the  artificial 
method  of  taking  the  eggs.  This  method  has  two  ob- 
jections. It  is  entirely  artificial,  and  it  involves  severe 
work,  and  exposure  to  water  in  the  spawning  season. 

To  obviate  these  two  objections,  Hon.  Stephen  H. 
Ainsworth  conceived  the  very  ingenious  plan  of  mak- 
ing the  fish  spawn  naturally,  and  at  the  same  time  of 
saving  the  eggs.  This  idea  he  carried  out  in  what  is 
now  everywhere  known  as  the  Ainsworth  Spawning 
Races. 

The  following  description  of  this  invention  is  by 
the  inventor,  Mr.  Ainsworth. 


PONDS.  29 


AINSWORTH'S  SPAWNING  RACE. 

This  race  may  be  built  like  the  races  made  for  the  artificial 
impregnation  of  spawn  used  by  nearly  all  trout-breeders  to  en- 
tice the  trout  up  from  the  pond  to  spawn.  It  can  be  made  of 
any  length,  from  ten  to  fifty  feet,  and  from  two  to  six  feet  wide, 
according  to  the  number  of  trout  which  are  to  use  it  and  the 
amount  of  water  for  the  supply  of  the  pond.  It  should  be  made 
with  plank  sides  and  bottom,  so  tight  as  to  keep  out  all  sedi- 
ment. Paving  the  bottom  nicely  with  small  stones  will  answer. 
The  bottom,  whether  of  plank  or  stone,  must  then  be  covered 
with  a  half-inch  layer  of  fine,  well-washed  gravel. 

When  one  has  large  trout  to  spawn  in  the  race,  the  water 
should  be  two  inches  deep  at  the  upper  or  supply  end,  and  fif- 
teen inches  deep  at  the  lower  end,  where  it  empties  into  the 
pond,  with  a  gentle  current  throughout  its  whole  length.  This 
will  give  good  spawning  depth  to  the  water  for  trout  of  all  sizes 
from  six  to  twenty-four  inches  long.  Usually  a  race  three  feet 
wide,  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  long,  will  be  quite  sufficient 
for  a  pond  of  one  thousand  or  eighteen  hundred  trout. 

The  bottom  of  this  race  must  be  covered  with  fine  wire-cloth 
screens,  of  about  ten  meshes  to  the  inch,  made  of  zinc  or  galvan- 
ized wire,  so  as  not  to  corrode  the  spawn.  Iron  wire,  if  painted, 
will  answer  where  zinc  cannot  be  obtained.  These  wire  screens 
must  be  nailed  to  wooden  frames  made  of  inch-square  stuff,  the 
frames  to  correspond  in  length  with  the  width  of  the  race,  and  to 
be  as  wide  as  the  cloth  will  permit,  —  say  two  feet.  Strips  of 
| -inch  stuff  must  be  nailed  to  the  bottom  of  the  race  for  the 
screens  to  rest  on,  in  such  a  manner  that  they  will  be  raised  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  above  the  gravel  on  the  bottom.  This  is  done 
to  give  good  circulation  to  the  water  under  the  spawn  as  they 
fall  on  to  these  wire. screens.  These  screens  must  be  laid  the 
whole  length  of  the  race,  side  by  side,  to  catch  the  spawn  as  it  is 
deposited  by  the  parent  trout. 

Now,  place  over  these  another  set  of  screens  made  of  coarse 
wire-cloth,  of  about  two  or  three  meshes  to  the  inch,  so  that  the 
spawn  will  drop  through  easily.  These  screens  must  be  nailed 


3O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

on  frames  of  the  same  length  as  the  others,  but  of  two-inch  stuff, 
and  as  wide  as  the  cloth  will  permit.  These  screens  must  be 
strong  enough  to  hold  two  inches  of  well-washed  coarse  gravel, 
from  three  quarters  of  an  inch  to  two  inches  in  diameter.  They 
should  be  so  large  that  there  will  be  interstices  between  the 
gravel  large  enough  to  let  the  spawn  pass  down,  if  necessary,  to 
the  lower  screen.  The  upper  screens  should  have  handles  on 
each  end  to  lift  them  by,  as  they  will  have  to  be  taken  out  and 
replaced  every  few  days  during  the  spawning  season. 

When  these  two  sets  of  screens  are  placed  the  whole  length 
of  the  race,  and  all  is  complete,  the  water  will  pass  over  all,  two 
inches  deep  at  the  supply  end  and  fifteen  inches  deep  at  the 
lower  end,  with  a  moderate  current  through  the  whole  race. 
The  reader  will  perceive  by  the  description  and  diagram  that 
there  is  one  inch  of  space  between  the  two  screens  to  hold  the 
spawn  as  they  are  deposited  by  the  parent  trout,  with  a  gentle 
current  passing  over  and  under  them  ;  and  that  the  upper  screen 
prevents  the  spawn  from  being  destroyed  by  trout  and  insects, 
so  that  they  are  perfectly  safe  until  removed  to  the  hatching 
box. 

When  the  trout  is  ready  to  spawn,  she  will  enter  the  race 
from  the  pond  and  prepare  her  nest.  This  she  does  by  whip- 
ping all  the  sediment  from  the  gravel  with  her  tail,  and  then  she 
whips  or  digs  a  hole  in  the  cleansed  gravel  about  two  inches 
deep,  or  down  to  the  upper  screen,  and  about  four  inches  in 
diameter.  She  then  bends  herself  down  in  this  hole  and  presses 
her  abdomen  on  the  gravel,  and  forces  out  from  one  hundred  to 
five  hundred  spawn,  which  fall  to  the  bottom  of  the  hole  and 
down  through  the  upper  screen  to  the  lower  one.  She  then 
passes  up  the  race,  and  the  male  trout  attending  her  comes  over 
the  nest  and  spawn  and  ejects  his  milt  on  the  ova ;  he  then 
whips. the  water  in  the  hole  with  his  tail,  sending  the  water  and 
milt  in  all  directions,  so  that  the  milt  reaches  all  the  spawn  on 
the  screen  or  in  the  gravel,  and,  as  they  are  ripe  and  ready  for 
the  milt,  impregnates  every  one  of  them.  As  soon  as  this  is 
done,  the  mother  trout  returns  and  covers  up  the  spawn  and 
fills  the  hole,  and  soon  digs  another  in  like  manner,  and  so  on 


PONDS.  31 

till  she  has  deposited  all  her  ova,  which  sometimes  takes  two 
weeks. 

There  may  be  from  twenty  to  fifty  trout  in  the  race  spawn- 
ing at  one  time,  and  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  spawn  will  be  found 
perfectly  impregnated  and  fully  matured,  so  that  they  will  all 
hatch,  if  taken  out  every  three  days,  or  once  a  week,  and  placed 
in  hatching  boxes. 

To  take  the  spawn  from  the  lower  screens,  first  take  out  two 
of  the  upper  screens  with  what  gravel  is  upon  them ;  then  re- 
move the  lower  ones,  and  wash  the  spawn  off  into  a  large  pan 
of  water  carefully,  and  replace  one  set  behind  you,  and  then 
take  up  one  set  at  a  time  and  place  back,  until  all  are  returned. 
Should  any  spawn  remain  in  the  gravel,  by  raising  the  screen  up 
and  down  a  few  times  they  will  drop  down  through  the  inter- 
stices. The  race  must  be  kept  well  covered  during  the  time  of 
spawning,  all  persons  must  be  kept  away,  and  the  fish  disturbed 
as  little  as  possible. 

By  this  method  the  spawn  are  all  saved,  are  perfectly  ma- 
tured, are  all  impregnated,  and  will  all  hatch ;  the  young  will  be 
perfect,  few  or  none  will  die,  as  their  sac  food  is  complete,  and 
they  will  be  strong  and  healthy  when  they  commence  seeking 
food  for  themselves.  It  is  much  less  work  to  take  the  spawn 
than  by  handling,  and  no  parent  trout  are  lost. 

The  spawning  race  above  described  answered  its 
purpose  perfectly  in  making  the  fish  spawn  naturally, 
and  also  lessened  trie  work  of  getting  the  eggs. 

The  tending  of  the  races,  nevertheless,  required 
considerable  labor  and  exposure.  This  latter  objec- 
tion was  ingeniously  surmounted  by  Mr.  A.  S.  Collins,' 
the  partner  of  Seth  Green,  in  a  modification  of  the 
Ainsworth  Races,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Roller 
Spawning  Box. 

I  give  a  description  below,  written  by  the  inventor. 


32  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

Fig.  I  is  a  spawning  box,  with  a  portion  of  the  side  removed. 


FIG.  i. 

A  is  a  double  row  of  coarse  wire  screens  ;  B  apron  of  fine  wire  cloth ;  D  a 
screen  ;  F  a  screen. 

ROLLER   SPAWNING  Box. 

For  taking  the  naturally  impregnated  eggs  of  Brook  Trout,  Salmon, 
etc.     (Patent  of  A.  S.  Collins.} 

In  the  Roller  Spawning  Box  the  principle  used  is  that  of  the 
Ainsworth  Screens,  and  the  improvement  consists  in  a  new  and 
convenient  method  of  collecting  the  eggs.  A  double  row  of 
coarse  wire  screens  (three  meshes  to  the  inch),  eight'  in  number, 
each  two-feet  square,  are  put  together  in  one  frame,  eight  feet  by 
four.  These  screens  are  to  be  filled  with  coarse  gravel,  and  the 
eggs  pass  through  as  in  Ainsworth's  Screens.  Under  these 
is  an  endless  apron  of  fine  wire-cloth,  passing  over  rollers  at  the 
two  ends  of  the  box.  This  apron  is  about  one  inch  beneath  the 
upper  screen,  and  is  kept  from  sagging  by  small  cross-bars, 
corresponding  to  the  division  of  the  upper  screen. 

These  cross-bars  are  supported  by,  and,  when  the  rollers  are 
turned,  slide  on,  an  inch-square  strip  nailed  to  the  side  of  the 
box.  A  similar  strip,  one  inch  above,  supports  the  larger  screens. 


PONDS. 


33 


The  cross-bars  also  keep  the  eggs  from  being  carried  down  by 
the  current.  By  using  two  small  bevelled  cog-wheels  the  front 
roller  can  be  turned  by  a  handle.  As  the  roller  is  turned  for- 
ward, the  endless  apron  moves  with  it,  and  the  eggs,  as  they  come 
to  the  edge  of  the  roller,  will  fall  off.  The  pan  is  placed  in  front 
of  the  roller,  and  receives  the  eggs  as  they  fall.  The  box  need 
not  be  more  than  two  feet  deep ;  the  depth  depending  upon  the 
size  of  the  rollers,  which  in  a  short  race  may  be  quite  small,  and 
the  box  not  more  than  eighteen  inches  deep.  The  box  is  set 
directly  in  the  raceway,  and  intended  to  fill  it  completely.  The 
water  may  either  enter  with  a  fall  over  the  top  of  the  box,  or  the 
top  of  the  box  may  be  cut  down  until  the  water  will  enter  on  the 
level  at  which  it  is  intended  to  stand  over  the  screens. 

Fig.  2  is  an  enlarged  view  of  the  front  of  the  same  box. 


FIG.  2. 

A  is  a  double  row  of  coarse  wire  screens ;  B  apron  of  fine  wire  cloth  ; 
C  pan  to  receive  the  eggs ;  D  screen ;  E  catch  to  hold  screen  D  when  raised. 

A  screen,  intended  to  prevent  the  fish  from  running  beyond  the 
race  or  getting  into  the  lower  part  of  the  box,  may  extend  to  the 
bottom,  or  be  arranged  differently  ;  a  screen  placed  at  the  front  of 
the  box  is  also  intended  to  prevent  the  fish  from  getting  below. 
When  the  eggs  are  to  be  taken,  this  screen  is  raised  on  hinges  to  an 


34  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

upright  position,  and  confined  by  a  spring  catch  or  latch.  This 
confines  the  fish  which  may  happen  to  be  in  the  race,  and  none 
of  them  can  get  below.  The  pan  is  then  lowered  to  its  position, 
the  roller  turned,  and  the  eggs  taken.  When  the  operation  is  fin- 
ished the  screen  is  again  lowered,  the  button  turned,  and  the  work 
is  done.  If  the  box  is  wide,  say  four  feet,  it  is  more  convenient 
to  have  the  pan  made  in  two  or  three  sections,  inserted  in 
a  light  frame,  as  the  eggs  can  be  more  easily  carried  in  and 
poured  out  of  a  shorter  pan.  It  is  better,  perhaps,  to  make  the 
screen  to  open  in  the  middle,  having  hinges  at  both  sides.  Then 
one  half  will  keep  the  fish  in  the  pond,  and  the  other  half  the  fish 
in  the  race,  from  running  into  the  well.  The  box  can  be  made  of 
any  length  from  four  feet  to  forty  feet,  and  of  any  width  from  two 
feet  to  six  or  eight.  If  it  is  made  very  wide,  an  additional  longi- 
tudinal support  must  be  provided  for  the  revolving  screen.  We 
recommend  the  following  dimensions  for  speckled-trout  races : 
two  feet  wide,  and  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  long  ;  or  four  feet 
wide,  and  from  twenty  to  forty  feet  long.  The  upper  screens  may 
be  made  in  convenient  sections,  the  whole  width  of  the  box,  and 
six  or  eight  feet  long. 

The  end  screens  are  so  made  that  while  a  full  current  is  per- 
mitted to  flow  over  the  upper  screens,  only  a  gentle  current  can 
flow  through  the  under  part  of  the  box.  This  current  is  meant 
to  be  so  regulated  that  when  the  pan  is  placed  about  an  inch 
from  the  turning-roller,  all  the  small  stones  which  the  trout  may 
whip  through  the  upper  screen  will  fall  short  of  the  pan ;  the 
eggs,  being  lighter,  will  be  carried  by  the  current  into  the  pan, 
while  a  great  part  of  the  dirt,  etc.,  which  may  collect  on  the 
under  screen  will  be  carried  up  over  the  pan  and  entirely  out  of 
the  box.  The  revolving  screen  may  be  made  of  tarred  muslin  or 
mosquito-netting.  But  wire-cloth  (of  ten  or  twelve  meshes  to 
the  inch)  keeps  much  the  cleanest,  and  we  are  inclined  to  think 
it  best  for  the  purpose.  I  make  my  aprons  half  wire-cloth  and 
half  tarred  muslin,  furnishing  the  wire  only  with  cross-bars,  and 
always  leaving  it  uppermost.  This  apron  is  fastened  around  the 
rollers  by  a  lacing  of  cord.  At  the  end  of  the  season  the  water 
in  the  pond  can  be  drawn  down  a  foot,  and  everything  taken  out 


PONDS.  35 

but  the  rollers.  Give  the  screens  a  coat  of  paint  or  gas  tar,  and 
lay  them  away  in  a  dry  place  until  the  next  autumn.  A  stiff 
brush  may  also  be  placed  under  the  forward  roller,  so  that  every 
time  the  roller  is  turned  to  remove  the  eggs  the  screen  will  be 
perfectly  clean. 

The  box  can  be  so  arranged  that  the  rollers  also  can  be  re- 
moved each  season ;  and  this  arrangement  on  various  accounts 
is  much  the  best. 

This  box  looks,  at  first  sight,  somewhat  complicated,  but  is 
in  reality  very  simple,  and  easier  to  make  than  to  describe.  Any 
one  who  has  the  knack  of  using  tools  can  make  one  which  will 
answer  the  purpose  perfectly.  The  cost  is  very  little  more  than 
that  of  the  Ainsworth  Screens  (of  the  same  area)  as  generally 
used.  The  cost  for  wire  being  the  same  in  both  cases,  the  lum- 
ber in  the  box  itself  being  extra,  and  also  the  rollers,  hinges,  and 
cog-wheels  (or  windlass  wheel). 

A  few  of  the  advantages  of  the  plan  are  as  follows  :  Let  us 
compare  a  double  row  of  forty  Ainsworth  Screens,  each  two  feet 
square  and  occupying  a  space  in  the  raceway  forty  feet  long  and 
four  feet  wide,  with  one  of  the  new  spawning  boxes  of  the  same 
dimensions. 

ist.  By  the  old  way  it  would  take  two  men  a  good  half-day  to 
remove  the  screens  singly,  feather  off  the  eggs  in  a  careful  man- 
ner, and  return  each  (double)  screen  to  its  proper  place. 

It  would  take  the  new  spawning  box  about  fifteen  minutes  to 
do  the  same  work  with  one  man. 

2d.  The  weight  of  the  gravel  which  has  to  be  lifted  in  the  old 
way  every  time  the  eggs  are  removed  amounts  to  many  tons  in 
the  course  of  a  season. 

In  the  new  box  the  gravel  is  not  lifted  at  all. 

3d.  By  the  old  way  the  operator's  hands  must  of  necessity  be 
more  or  less  wet  during  the  whole  operation.  Now,  as  the  trout 
and  salmon  spawn  during  the  winter  season,  when  the  thermom- 
eter generally  stands  below  the  freezing-point,  taking  eggs  in  the 
old  way  is  not  only  inconvenient  and  painful,  but  often  impos- 
sible. 

By  the  new  way  the  hands  are  not  made  wet,  and  may  be  kept 
comfortably  gloved. 


36  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

4th.  By  the  old  way  more  or  less  of  the  eggs  are  lost  by  care- 
less feathering,  exposing  the  eggs  to  the  freezing  atmosphere, 
clumsiness  in  handling  the  screens  (caused  by  cold  fingers), 
tipping  of  the  screens,  wash  of  the  current,  etc.,  etc. 

By  the  new  way  every  egg  is  saved. 

5th.  By  the  old  method  every  fish  is  driven  out  of  the  race 
when  the  eggs  are  taken.  Some  of  them  will  not  return,  but 
will  seek  a  spawning-place  in  the  pond,  and  many  eggs  will  be 
unavoidably  lost. 

By  the  new  way  the  fish  are  not  driven  from  the  race.  And 
as  the  boxes  are  always  covered  during  the  season,  the  fish  will 
not  even  be  disturbed.  In  fact,  they  may  spawn  while  the  eggs 
are  being  taken,  and  yet  not  a  single  egg  be  lost. 

This  Spawning-Box  answers  for  securing  the  naturally  im- 
pregnated eggs  of  salmon,  salmon  trout,  speckled  brook  trout, 
whitefish,  shad,  etc.  It  is  recommended  by  the  leading  piscicul- 
turists of  the  country. 

Mr.  Ainsworth's  idea  was  one  of  great  value,  and 
Mr.  Collins's  device  an  excellent  modification  of  it,  and 
I  cordially  recommend  their  methods  to  those  who 
wish  to  avoid  the  labor  and  exposure  of  taking  the 
eggs  artificially. 

No  one  who  has  not  had  experience  in  taking  spawn 
by  hand  can  conceive  of  the  amount  of  labor  and  hard- 
ship which  this  beautiful  contrivance  saves.  There  is 
some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  question  which 
yields  the  most  eggs,  the  artificial  or  the  screen  method, 
and  the  results  of  some  experiments  of  Mr.  F.  Mather 
seem  to  be  adverse  to  the  Ainsvvorth  plan.  I  will  not 
express  an  opinion  here  on  this  point,  but  will  say  that 
the  saving  of  exposure  by  the  Collins  Roller  Box  is 
worth  paying  a  good  many  eggs  for. 


PONDS.  37 


INLETS  AND  OUTLETS. 

12.  The  inlets  and  outlets  of  your  ponds  should  be 
ample,  and  securely  "jointed,"  if  I  may  use  the  word, 
to  the  ponds  ;  that  is,  so  joined  to  the  side  of  the  pond 
that  no  water  will  ever  work  its  way  under  or  around 
them.  This  is  so  simple  and  safe  a  process  with  the 
plank  system,  that  the  advantages  derived  from  this 
alone  would  decide  me  in  favor  of  the  use  of  plank 
ponds. 

The  outlet  is  usually  a  plank  trough,  or  bulkhead, 
with  a  screen  to  confine  the  fish,  and  the  inlet  is  the 
same,  except  that  one  half  the  floor  of  the  bulkhead 
is  made  to  project  over  the  pond,  and  is  formed  of 
hard -wood  slats,  laid  longitudinally  with  the  length  of 
the  bulkhead,  and  a  quarter  or  half  an  inch  apart. 
This  is  much  better  than  a  screen,  because,  while  it 
answers  the  same  purpose  in  confining  the  fish,  it  lets 
through  all  the  food  from  above,  and  does  not  get 
so  easily  clogged  up. 

When  a  bulkhead  inlet  or  outlet  is  made  to  a  com- 
mon earth  pond,  great  care  should  be  taken  to  have 
piling  driven  down  to  the  hard  pan  below,  and  on  both 
sides,  for  several  feet ;  and  even  then  in  some  soils 
the  water  will  work  through  it  in  the  course  of  years. 

Be  sure  to  make  the  outlets  broad  enough  to  admit 
a  screen  of  sufficient  size  to  carry  off  all  the  water  at 
its  highest  possible  flood  height,  making  large  allow- 
ance, also,  for  the  clogging  up  of  screen.  Always  have 
a  gate  at  the  inlet  which  will  wholly  shut  off  the  water 
in  case  of  danger. 


38  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


SCREENS. 

Screens  hold  a  very  responsible  position  in  trout 
culture. 

All  that  separates  your  thousands  of  fish  from  the 
outer  world,  where  they  would  be  lost  to  you,  is  the 
twentieth-of-an-inch  barrier  of  wire-screen.  As  far  as 
their  voluntary  escape  is  concerned,  the  wire-screens 
stand  in  the  place  of  gates,  locks,  bolts,  and  bars.  It 
is  obvious  how  responsible  their  office  is. 

All  screens  should  be  of  copper  or  galvanized  iron. 
Copper  is  best  for  fine-mesh  screens,  galvanized  iron 
for  large  meshes. 

Wooden  slats  answer  very  well  for  grown-up  trout. 

In  using  slats  it  should  be  remembered  that  a  fish, 
by  turning  on  its  side,  will  go  through  a  surprisingly 
narrow  aperture,  if  it  is  long  enough.  A  square  mesh 
of  iron  will  hold  fish  securely,  when  slats  would  need 
to  be  only  half  the  width  of  the  mesh  apart. 

The  wire  netting  should  be  fastened  on  to  firm 
frames,  and  the  frames  should  fit  tight  in  their  place, 
especially  at  the  bottom. 

Thousands  of  fish  have  been  lost  by  neglecting  this 
simple  precaution. 

There  should  be  eighteen  threads  to  the  inch  for 
the  very  smallest  fry,  four  threads  to  the  inch  for  year- 
lings, and  two  to  the  inch  for  two-year-olds. 

For  placing  the  screens  for  the  young  fry,  see  p.  59. 

If  leaves  or  other  debris  coming  down  the  stream 
make  trouble  by  clogging  the  outlet  screen,  you  can 
protect  it  by  building  out  a  board  frame,  say  a 


PONDS.  39 

foot  deep,  in  front  of  the  screen,  with  about  eight 
inches  of  its  width  below  the  water  and  four  inches 
above  ;  this  will  catch  and  retain  the  obstructions  float- 
ing down,  and  the  screen  will  remain  comparatively 
clean. 

Where  it  is  practicable,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  have  all 
the  inlets  and  outlets  of  the  ponds  of  the  same  size, 
so  that  the  screen  of  any  one  will  fit  all  the  rest.  This 
secures  uniformity  of  size  in  the  screens,  and  is  often  a 
great  convenience  when  it  becomes  desirable  to  move 
a  screen  from  one  pond  to  another. 

When  there  is  danger  of  too  much  water,  have  a  side 
channel  provided  to  carry  it  off.  This  channel  should 
be  considerably  lower  than  the  inlet  to  your  pond, 
should  be  the  channel  the  stream  would  naturally  seek 
when  shut  off  from  the  ponds,  and  should  be  very 
ample.  I  would  have  it,  for  safety's  sake,  double  the 
capacity  of  any  freshet  that  was  ever  known  on  the 
stream.  For  the  want  of  this  precaution,  trout  enough 
have  been  lost,  within  my  own  knowledge,  to  make  a 
fortune. 

It  is  usually  the  best  plan  to  leave  the  natural  chan- 
nel of  the  brook  for  the  surplus  water,  and  to  build 
your  ponds  on  one  side  of  it,  and  take  off  the  water 
supply  for  them  from  the  brook.  This  is  the  way  the 
breeding  ponds  at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  are 
arranged,  and  it  is  the  safest  way  in  time  of  a  freshet. 


CHAPTER   III. 
BUILDINGS. 

r  I  ^HE  hatching  house  is  the  one  essential  building  in 
JL  fish  breeding  ;  but  a  thorough  trout-breeding  es- 
tablishment should  have,  besides  the  hatching  house, 
several  other  buildings  or  rooms,  as,  for  instance,  a 
meat-room,  carpenter's  shop,  and  ice-house.  It  is  not, 
of  course,  necessary  to  have  a  separate  building  for  all 
these,  but  each  one  should  have  at  least  a  separate 
room. 

The  reader  inquires  at  once,  I  suppose,  why  the 
hatching  house  will  not  answer  for  all  of  these  pur- 
poses, except,  possibly,  the  ice-house.  The  reason  is 
this ;  if  you  engage  in  hatching  on  any  considerable 
scale,  you  will  have  water  running  through  the  house 
in  great  quantities,  half  the  year,  and  perhaps  all  the 
year  round.  The  result  will  be  that  this  house  will  be 
the  dampest  place  you  ever  were  in,  and  everything  in 
it,  that  moisture  can  hurt,  will  be  spoiled.  Tools  will 
rust,  the  firewood  will  not  burn,  the  kindlings  will  be 
soaked,  your  scales,  microscopes,  matches,  pails,  pans, 
and  papers, —  everything,  in  fact,  will  become  intolera- 
bly damp. 

Then,  again,  the  hatching  house,  being  built  for  the 
use  of  water,  should  not  contain  anything  that  would 


BUILDINGS.  41 

restrict  the  most  perfect  freedom  in  its  use.  If  it  is 
essential  to  turn  a  stream  of  water  over  some  fish,  in 
an  unusual  place  in  the  house,  for  a  week  or  so,  there 
should  be  no  such  obstacle  in  the  way  of  it  as  the 
danger  of  exposing  tools,  or  microscopes,  or  any  uten- 
sils, to  too  much  dampness.  Therefore  I  would  have 
the  hatching  house,  or  hatching  room,  devoted  to  the 
water,  and  have  all  other  considerations  so  subordinate 
to  this  that  you  can  deluge  the  house  with  water  at 
any  time  you  like,  without  doing  any  harm,  and  without 
any  feeling  of  restraint,  on  account  of  things  in  it  be- 
ing injured  by  the  dampness. 

This  is  the  reason  why  it  is  not  best  to  use  the 
hatching  room  for  the  other  purposes  mentioned. 

The  buildings  or  rooms  which  I  would  recommend 
are,  a  meat-room,  an  office,  a  storeroom  and  carpen- 
ter's shop  combined  in  one,  and  an  ice-house. 

i.  The  meat-room.  You  should  bear  in  mind  that 
a  stock  of  ten  thousand  large  trout  will  consume  at 
least  forty  pounds  of  meat  a  day ;  this  is  over  a  thou- 
sand pounds  a  month. 

This  food  must  first  be  cut  up,  and  some  sorted 
out  for  the  young  fry  and  some  for  the  old  trout. 
Then  the  meat  for  the  large  fish  must  be  run  through 
a  coarse  meat-cutter,  and  that  for  the  small  ones 
through  a  finer  one,  and  the  meat  must  be  kept 
thawed  out  in  the  winter,  and  fresh  in  the  sum- 
mer. This  handling  of  the  meat,  sometimes  a  thou- 
sand pounds  in  a  month,  sometimes  more,  and  keep- 
ing it  in  the  right  condition  in  all  seasons,  is  no 
small  task,  and  unless  it  has  a  separate  room  devoted 


42  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

to  it  becomes  an  intolerable  nuisance,  especially  in 
the  decomposing  heat  of  summer. 

I  would  then,  by  all  means,  have  the  meat-room  by 
itself,  and  here  in  this  room,  and  nowhere  else,  should 
be  kept  the  two  meat-cutters,  with  their  stands,  the 
meat-grater  (if  you  use  one)  for  the  young  fry,  the  meat- 
bench,  the  pails,  pans,  and  baskets  for  holding  and  car- 
rying the  meat,  the  meat  itself,  and  everything  else, 
in  short,  that  belongs  to  the  commissary  department, 
—  in  this  room,  and  nowhere  else. 

The  most  disagreeable  feature  about  trout-breed- 
ing is  the  commissariat ;  and  the  more  you  keep  it  by 
itself,  and  out  of  sight,  and  out  of  the  way  of  every- 
thing else,  the  more  desirable  your  place  will  be,  and 
the  better  you  will  like  your  work. 

The  meat-room,  like  the  other  rooms,  should  have  a 
plank  floor,  with  a  trap-door  in  it,  should  be  well  ven- 
tilated, should  have  a  tank  of  water  in  it,  supplied  by 
a  stream  large  enough  to  keep  it  from  freezing  in  the 
winter  and  heating  up  in  the  summer,  and  arranged 
so  that  the  whole  stream  can  be  turned  on  to  the  floor 
when  it  is  cleaned  or  "  swashed,"  —  which  should  be 
often,  —  and  whatever  other  conveniences  may  be  de- 
sired. 

The  tank  is  not  only  to  furnish  water  to  keep  things 
clean,  but  it  will  be  found  to  be  the  best  place  in  the 
summer  to  keep  the  meat,  and  the  only  place  in  win- 
ter. I  have  tried  both  the  ice-house  and  the  spring 
water  for  this  purpose,  but  have  found  that  the  spring 
water  answers  much  the  best  in  practice. 

2.    The  next   most   important   room  is   the   store- 


-,          BUILDINGS.  43 

room  and  carpenter's  shop  combined ;  these  can  be 
together  as  well  as  not.  They  are  required,  because 
a  great  amount  of  lumber,  old  screens  and  screen- 
frames,  pails  and  pans  not  in  use,  and  a  thousand 
other  things,  will  collect  about  the  place,  which  you 
will  want  to  have  under  cover  and  in  a  dry  place. 
Then  there  is  so  much  little  work  constantly  to  be 
done, — what  is  called  in  New  England  "puttering," — 
that  a  carpenter's  bench  and  tools  are  almost  indis- 
pensable, the  more  so  because  what  needs  to  be  done 
must  often  be  done  at  once,  before  one  can  send  for  a 
carpenter  to  come  and  do  it. 

3.  An  office  is  a  very  desirable  thing  about  a  trout- 
breeding  establishment.    It  is  almost  as  indispensable, 
in  fact,  as  the  carpenter's  bench,  unless  your  house  is 
right  on  the  spot. 

The  office  will  be  your  comfortable  room,  where 
you  can  keep  a  fire,  can  transact  business,  make  your 
microscopic  examinations,  examine  the  progress  of  ex- 
periments, take  notes,  do  your  writing,  receive  orders, 
and  keep  your  record-books  and  show-case  of  speci- 
mens. Indeed,  so  many  things  call  for  such  a  room 
that  no  establishment  is  complete  without  it. 

4.  An  ice-house  is  absolutely  necessary,  unless  you 
can  depend  upon  ice,  whenever  you  want  it,  from  out- 
side sources ;  and  even  then  it  is  desirable.     In  trans- 
porting live  fish,  young  or  old,  you  cannot  do  without 
ice,  except  in  cold  weather,  and  you  may  sometimes 
need  it  for  the  meat-house  ;  you  will  frequently  need  ice 
unexpectedly,  and  you  must  have  it  for  shipping  your 
large  fish  to  market.     Have  an  ice-house,  then,  by  all 


44  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

means,  and  locate  it  near  the  hatching  house,  and 
where  the  fish  are  packed  for  market.  A  building  of 
the  size  of  an  ordinary  family  ice-house  will  do. 

5.  Besides  these  rooms,  there  are  at  the  Cold  Spring 
Trout  Ponds  a  bird-pen,  made  of  plank,  large  and  dur- 
able, and  a  fox-pen,  also  built  of  wood  and  of  good  size. 
The  bottom  of  the  latter,  made  of  plank,  is  laid  three  feet 
under  ground,  and  is  covered  with  earth  to  this  depth, 
so  that  the  animals  confined  may  have  a  good  place  to 
burrow  in,  without  being  able  to  escape  by  burrowing. 
These  pens  are  desirable,  because  as  you  will  trap  more 
or  less  about  your  place,  you  will  sometimes  catch  ani- 
mals and  large  birds  alive,  which  you  may  like  to  keep 
alive.  There  is  also  a  roughly  built  shanty,  with  a 
stove  in  it,  near  the  spawning  beds,  in  which  the  spawn 
can  be  taken  in  stormy  weather,  which  is  also  recom- 
mended. 

THE  HATCHING  HOUSE. 

The  hatching  house,  or  hatching  room,  is,  of  course, 
the  central  point  of  the  whole  establishment. 

Here  the  swarms  of  young  trout  upon  which  the 
other  departments  depend  for  their  supply  are  brought 
into  being;  the  greatest  care,  therefore,  should  be 
exercised  in  having  it  just  right. 

It  should  in  general  be  roomy,  well  lighted,  firm, 
and  durable.  Such  a  one,  however  roughly  made,  will 
answer  its  purpose  of  hatching  as  well  as  a  more  ex- 
pensive one ;  though  if  one's  means  are  unrestricted, 
there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  a  handsome 
building,  and  an  ornament  to  the  place,  like  that  of 
Colonel  Thompson  at  Springfield,  for  instance. 


BUILDINGS.        .  45 

The  size  of  the  hatching  house  depends  on  the 
amount  of  work  to  be  done  in  it.  A  room  thirty  feet 
long  and  eighteen  feet  wide  will  have  hatching  space 
for  one  hundred  thousand  eggs,  besides  passage-ways 
between  the  troughs,  or  hatching-stands,  and  con- 
siderable spare  roorri  to  keep  the  gravel-boxes,  and 
to  work  in. 

For  more  eggs  you  will  of  course  need  more  room ; 
but,  whatever  the  amount  of  business  you  do,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  it  is  far  better  to  have  too  much 
room  than  too  little.  I  know  of  few  things  more  dis- 
agreeable than  a  cramped  hatching  house.* 

The  hatching  house  should  be  located  near  the 
spring  or  reservoir  which  supplies  it  with  water ;  for 
the  longer  the  aqueduct  which  takes  the  water  from 
the  spring  to  the  house,  the  greater  is  the  risk  of  the 
water  going  wrong.  The  house  should  also  be  placed, 
if  possible,  so  that  the  water  will  enter  it  several  feet 
above  the  floor.  This  will  enable  the  hatching  appa- 
ratus to  be  elevated  to  a  convenient  height  for  examin- 
ing the  eggs  standing  or  sitting,  which  is  a  great  ad- 
vantage ;  and  I  think  it  is  better,  on  the  whole,  to  incur 
the  risk  of  a  longer  aqueduct  from  the  spring,  if  neces- 
sary, to  obtain  this  advantage. 

No  fire  is  required  in  the  hatching  room,  to  keep  the 
water  warm.t  That  keeps  warm  of  itself,  and  also  keeps 

*  Our  hatching-house  at  the  Mirimichi  Salmon  Breeding 
Works  is  a  hundred  feet  long. 

t  It  is  an  addition  to  one's  personal  comfort  to  have  a  stove  in 
the  hatching  house,  though  it  may  not  be  required  to  warm  the 
water. 


46  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

the  house  comparatively  warm.  There  is  often  a  differ- 
ence of  30°  between  the  outside  air  and  the  interior 
of  the  hatching  room  in  extremely  cold  weather. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  build  the  walls  thick,  and  then 
the  water  running  through  will  keep  the  air  not  very 
many  degrees  from  its  own  temperature. 

This  makes  a  much  more  comfortable  room  to 
work  in. 

The  shape  of  the  hatching  house  will  be  determined 
almost  wholly  by  local  considerations. 

It  is  becoming  quite  the  custom  now  to  admit  the 
light  into  the  hatching  room  by  large  movable  sky- 
lights in  the  roof;  this  is  optional,  however,  unless 
sufficient  light  cannot  be  obtained  otherwise. 

I  will  only  add  that  if  the  four  rooms  mentioned  — 
the  office,  storeroom,  meat-room,  and  hatching  room  — 
are  included  in  one  building,  the  first  three  should  be 
separated  from  the  hatching  room  by  a  partition  pre- 
pared with  waterproof  cement,  or  other  covering, 
impervious  to  water. 


CHAPTER   IV. 
HATCHING  APPARATUS. 

THE   hatching  apparatus   consists  of  the  supply 
reservoir,  the    aqueducts,   the  filtering  arrange- 
ments,   the   distributing  spout,  and   the   troughs,    or 
hatching  apparatus  proper. 

THE  SUPPLY  RESERVOIR. 

The  supply  reservoir,  which  hatches  the  eggs,  is  the 
great  motive  power  of  the  whole  establishment.  It 
is  this  which  does  the  work  of  replenishing  all  the 
other  departments  of  the  trout  farm. 

On  its  steady,  unfailing  supply  everything  depends. 
If  it  should  fail  from  any  cause  during  the  hatching 
season,  the  whole  year's  increase  would  be  lost.  It 
follows,  then,  from  the  importance  of  this  agency,  that 
it  should  be  most  securely  guarded.  You  should, 
therefore,  in  enclosing  the  reservoir,  make  your  work 
very  firm  and  secure,  especially  the  lowest  parts  of  it, 
where  there  is  the  most  danger.  Leave  nothing  to 
chance  in  this  work.  Take  no  risk  whatever,  but 
guard  it  from  the  possibility  of  breaking  away ;  and 
in  doing  so,  do  not  forget  that  muskrats  and  frost 
will  have  no  more  consideration  for  your  hatching 
reservoir  —  so  important  to  you  —  than  for  any  other 
body  of  water. 


48  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

Make  it  as  small  as  you  can  without  sacrificing 
water.  Cover  it  from  dirt,  leaves,  and  light.  Keep 
it  perfectly  clean,  and  never  put  any  fish  into  it  under 
any  temptation ;  and  finally,  unless  you  are  certain  that 
you  can  make  a  very  sure  thing  of  it  yourself,  employ 
an  experienced  man  to  construct  it  for  you. 

HATCHING-ROOM  AQUEDUCT. 

One  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  whole  hatch- 
ing apparatus  is  the  aqueduct  which  takes  the  water 
from  the  hatching  reservoir  to  the  hatching  room.  It 
may  be  nothing  but  a  simple  short  pipe  or  spout,  but 
its  office  is  nevertheless  exceedingly  responsible.  In- 
deed, it  is  literally  a  sine  qua  non  of  a  hatching 
establishment  to  have  this  aqueduct  safe;  for  if  it 
fails  for  a  night  to  fulfil  its  purpose  during  the  period 
of  incubation,  that  is  the  end  of  that  season's  opera- 
tions, and  unless  you  buy  more  eggs,  there  will  be  a 
gap  of  one  year  in  your  chain  of  fish  broods  that  never 
will  be  filled  up. 

This  aqueduct,  therefore,  ought  to  be  made  espe- 
cially secure.  To  make  it  so,  i.  Build  it  of  i  J-inch 
or  2-inch  plank,  and  fasten  it  firmly  so  that  frost 
cannot  heave  it,  and  so  that  it  cannot  be  dis- 
placed by  any  accident  whatever.  I  have  known 
serious  loss  to  result  from  an  aqueduct  being  simply 
pushed  out  of  place  by  the  foot. 

2.  Char  the  plank.  This  I  consider  very  important 
indeed,  if  you  use  plank,  for  you  cannot  be  certain, 
without  charring  it,  that  fungus  is  not  being  generated 
in  it.  Do  not  imagine  that  you  are  safe  from  fungus 


HATCHING   APPARATUS.  49 

because  your  hatching  boxes  themselves  are  well 
guarded  from  it.  It  may  grow  in  the  aqueduct  and 
be  borne  down  by  the  stream,  and  before  winter  is 
over,  you  may  find,  to  your  dismay,  that  it  has  fastened 
its  fatal  grasp  on  your  eggs.  If  so,  they  are  ruined. 
There  is  no  remedy  for  fungus  which  will  make 
healthy  fish  of  the  eggs  attacked.  They  may  hatch, 
but  the  young  fish  will  be  good  for  nothing  to  raise. 
Therefore  begin  at  the  beginning,  and  guard  your  eggs 
from  fungus  by  charring  the  aqueduct. 

3.  As  a  rule,  it  is  best  to  have  the  aqueduct  covered, 
but  beware  of  making  the  outlet  end  smaller  than  the 
inlet  end,  for  then,  if  anything  gets  into  the  pipe  too 
large  to  pass  through  the  outlet,  it  will  stop  the  water, 
and  your  eggs  will  be  ruined.     I  have  known  great 
danger  and  actual  loss  to  come  from  such  a  defective 
aqueduct.     In  one  instance  a  frog  got  into  the  pipe, 
in  another  a  muskrat,  in  another  a  cork  ;  each  of  which 
came  very  near  shutting  off  the  water  altogether  and 
doing  very  great  mischief.     For  further  safety,  put  a 
coarse,  galvanized-iron   screen   over   the   end  of  the 
aqueduct  which  receives  the  water. 

4.  If  you  have  a  small  stream,  and  must  convey  it 
a  considerable  distance,  and  want  to  economize  any- 
thing in  temperature,  you  can  keep  it  a  little  warmer 
by  boxing  up  the  aqueduct  itself.     But  as  a  general 
thing  it  is   labor  wasted.      You   will   be    astonished 
to  see   how  little  any  considerable   stream    changes 
in  temperature  in  passing  through  even  a  long  closed 
spout. 

At  the  writer's  works  at  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  when 
3  D 


50  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

the  mercury  is  10°  below  zero,  the  water  at  the  hatch- 
ing house  loses  only  two  degrees  in  passing  through 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  of  channel. 

THE  FILTERING  ARRANGEMENTS. 

Next  to  fungus,  sediment  is  the  most  dangerous 
enemy  to  trout  eggs,  and,  like  fungus,  it  is  the  more 
to  be  dreaded  because  it  is  invisible  ;  that  is,  as  it 
is  held  naturally  in  the  water.  A  stream  or  a  spring 
may  look  to  you  as  clear  as  crystal,  you  may  examine 
most  carefully  and  not  find  any  traces  of  dust  or  foreign 
matter  in  it,  yet  the  same  water  in  running  sixty  days 
over  any  given  spot  will  very  likely  deposit  enough 
sediment  to  kill  a  million  eggs.  Some  few  springs  are, 
I  believe,  sufficiently  free  from  sediment  to  be  used 
without  filtering,  but  such  springs  are  exceedingly 
rare,  and  are  the  exceptions.  As  a  rule,  all  springs 
and  streams,  however  clear  they  may  appear,  will  in 
time  deposit  a  fine  layer  of  dust,  or  sediment,  as'  it 
is  usually  called,  which  is  sufficient  to  destroy  or  de- 
form all  the  fish  embryos  that  are  exposed  to  it. 

It  is  very  important,  therefore,  to  have  this  sediment 
kept  away  from  the  eggs ;  and  to  effect  this,  the  water 
is  conveyed  through  a  very  efficient  filtering  apparatus. 
This  usually  consists  of  a  large  tank  containing  a 
series  of  flannel  screens.  These  screens  consist  sim- 
ply of  light  wooden  frames,  with  flannel  fastened  on 
them,  which  are  made  to  slide  in  grooves  prepared 
for  the  purpose,  on  the  inside  of  the  tank. 

The  flannel  should  be  drawn  tight  over  the  frames, 
and  the  frames  themselves  should  slide  obliquely  into 


HATCHING   APPARATUS. 


the  tank  at  a  very  considerable  angle,  say  45°,  with 
the  lower  end  up  stream. 


a  Flannel  filters. 

b  Hatching-room  aqueduct  or  inlet. 

c  Outlet. 

The  tank  should  be  built  very  solid,  of  two-inch 
plank,  charred,  and  should  be  bound  with  iron  bands, 
to  prevent  spreading.  Its  size  will  be  governed,  of 
course,  by  the  amount  of  filtering  required,  a  small  or 
very  clean  stream  needing  less  than  a  large  or  com- 
paratively turbid  one.  But  be  sure  of  one  thing,  that 
the  tank  is  large  enough,  no  matter  how  large  that 
may  be,  to  arrest  all  the  sediment,  beyond  all  possi- 
bility of  risk.  Thousands  of  eggs  have  been  lost  by 
the  filtering  tank  being  inadequate.  Better  have  it 
twice  as  large  as  is  necessary,  than  to  incur  any  risk 
of  not  stopping  the  sediment. 

At  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  there  are  two 
tanks  for  filtering,  one  containing  eighty-one  gallons 
and  six  filters,  the  other  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
gallons  and  seven  filters. 

I  should  say  that  it  was  better  to  have  two  medi- 


52  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

um-sized  tanks  than  to  have  one  excessively  large 
one. 

I  should  call  the  first  of  the  two  just  mentioned  a 
medium-sized  one,  and  the  second  a  large  one,  as 
large,  perhaps,  as  should  be  made. 

The  outlet  of  the  filtering  tank  should  be  at  least 
six  inches  lower  than  the  top  of  the  tank,  to  guard 
against  the  water  escaping  over  the  top  when  the 
screens  clog  up.  There  should  be  two  holes  at  least 
an  inch  in  diameter  in  the  bottom  of  the  tank,  to  let 
the  water  off  when  necessary,  and  they  should  be 
plugged  with  very  long  stoppers,  which  will  come 
nearly  to  the  surface,  so  that  they  can  be  withdrawn 
without  the  arm  being  much  immersed  in  the  water. 

The  filters  themselves  may  be  made  of  any  kind 
of  strong,  coarse  flannel.  White  has  the  advantage  of 
showing  dirt  best,  and  red,  Seth  Green  says,  will  last  the 
longest ;  otherwise,  one  color  will  do  as  well  as  another. 

These  filters  must  be  watched,  and,  no  matter  how 
often  they  require  it,  they  must  be  taken  out  and 
cleaned  as  soon  as  they  are  dirty;  but  in  doing  this  the 
rear  one  should  be  moved  as  little  as  possible.  If 
you  clean  while  wet,  wash  them  under  water,  either 
with  a  brush,  or  a  long-handled  stick  smoothed  at  the 
end  j  the  brush  is  the  quickest  method,  the  stick 
wears  them  out  less.  If  you  have  a  chance  to  dry 
them,  the  deposit  on  them  can  be  easily  brushed  off 
with  a  dry  brush.  It  may  be  necessary  to  clean  the  fil- 
ters every  day.  If  it  is,  do  not  neglect  it.  The  tank  is 
placed,  of  course,  at  the  outlet  of  the  spring  aqueduct, 
which  is  usually  at  the  head  of  the  hatching-room,  and 


HATCHING    APPARATUS.  53 

no  water  should  be  allowed  to  pass  over  the  eggs  any 
length  of  time,  without  having  first  run  through  this 
tank.  The  tank  need  not  be  covered. 

THE  DISTRIBUTING  SPOUT. 

The  next  thing  in  order  is  the  distributing  spout, 
the  office  of  which  is  simply  to  receive  the  water  from 
the  filtering  tank,  and  distribute  it  into  the  various 
hatching  troughs. 

It  joins  the  filtering  tank,  and  extends,  of  course, 
either  way,  as  far  as  the  hatching  troughs  reach  later- 
ally, over  which  it  is  placed. 

It  is  provided  with  an  outlet  at  the  head  of  each 
trough,  and  it  will  be  found  a  convenience  to  have  all 
these  outlets  levelled  so  as  to  each  draw  an  equal 
supply  of  water  when  they  are  open.  To  secure  this, 
the  openings  farthest  from  the  inlet  screen  should 
be  a  little  lower  than  the  next,  and  so  on,  for  the 
water  at  the  inlet  will  be  a  little  higher  than  the 
other  end.  If  built  of  wood,  the  distributing  spout 
should  be  of  i^-inch  plank,  charred,  and  should  be 
abundantly  ample  in  width  and  depth  for  its  purpose. 

There  should  also  be  an  aqueduct  connecting  the 
water  supply  above  the  filtering  tank  with  the  dis- 
tributing spout,  so  that  the  water  can  be  temporarily 
turned  directly  into  the  distributing  spout  when  it 
becomes  necessary  to  wash  the  tanks. 

The  distributing  spout  often  has  gravel  placed  in  it 
for  an  additional  filter.  This  is  a  good  plan,  because 
the  gravel  gathers  up  whatever  fine  sediment  may 
have  run  the  gantlet  of  the  flannel  filters,  and  any 


54  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

fine  fibre  of  the  flannel  itself,  which  has  become  de- 
tached from  the  screens.  But  it  is  a  better  plan  to  have 
a  special  spout  or  aqueduct  for  the  gravel  filter,  be- 
t^ween  the  filtering  tank  and  the  distributing  spout,  and 
to  have  the  latter  free  from  gravel,  on  account  of  the 
gravel  in  it  being  often  an  inconvenience.  The  gravel 
should  be  coarse  enough  to  let  the  water  pass  through 
'  it  freely,  the  pieces  being  of  the  average  size  of  chest- 
nuts, or  larger.  There  is  usually  enough  of  this  coarse 
"gravel  sifted  out  when  the  fine  gravel  is  being  pre- 
pared for  the  hatching  troughs. 

If  fine  gravel  is  used,  it  will  force  the  water  to  flow 
over  it,  and  thus  defeat  its  purpose. 

HATCHING  TROUGHS,  OR  HATCHING  APPARATUS. 

The  hatching  apparatus  is  of  course  the  central  fea- 
ture of  your  whole  indoor  establishment,  the  part  for 
which,  indeed,  all  the  rest  is  created.  This  is  the  foun- 
tain-head, from  which  all  the  other  departments  of  the 
fish  farm  are  furnished  with  stock.  Here  you  intrust, 
for  six  months,  the  whole  of  your  year's  increase,  and 
it  occupies  so  responsible  a  place  that  no  pains  should 
be  spared  to  get  it  right.  Indeed,  you  cannot  overrate 
the  importance  of  having  your  hatching  apparatus 
without  a  fault,  especially  as  a  single  defect  or  neglect 
may  cost  you  your  whole  stock  of  young  fishes,  —  not 
merely  part,  but  perhaps  the  whole. 

MATERIALS. 

Various  kinds  of  material  have  been  used  for  hatch- 
ing trout  eggs,  the  principal  of  which  are  wood,  soap- 


HATCHING    APPARATUS.  55 

stone,  slate,  pottery,  metal,  wood  with  glass  lining,  glass 
grilles,  and  charcoal,  or  carbonized  wood.  I  think  ex- 
perience will  finally  reduce  the  number  in  general  prac- 
tice to  two,  namely,  glass  grilles  and  carbonized  wood. 

Wood  in  its  natural  state  is  out  of  the  question,  for 
the  fungus  that  it  grows  wholly  unfits  it  for  hatching. 
I  venture  to  say  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  eggs 
have  been  destroyed  by  the  fungus  coming  from  wood- 
en troughs.  Metal,  whether  in  the  form  of  screens 
or  anything  .else,  will  not  do,  because  the  absorbing 
power  of  trout  eggs  is  so  great,  that,  if  placed  in  con- 
tact with  it,  they  will  in  time  absorb  enough  metallic 
matter  to  destroy  them.'* 

Slate,  pottery,  and  soapstone  answer  very  well,  but  are 
all  expensive ;  and  if  an  expensive  article  is  used,  glass 
grilles,  I  think,  have  the  preference  over  everything  else. 

For  cleanliness,  tidiness,  and  convenience  they  are 
not  surpassed  by  anything.  Their  expense  is  their 
only  objection.  Charcoal  troughs,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  equally  as  effective  as  grilles,  and  infinitely  more 
economical.  They  are  also  more  accessible,  more 
simple,  and  more  durable. 

In  estimating  their  comparative  merits  I  should  say 
that  the  glass  grilles  are  the  thing  for  the  rich  man's 
experiments,  and  the  carbonized  troughs  are  the  thing 
for  business ;  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  carbonized 
troughs  will  supersede  everything  else,  where  trout- 

*  Fourteen  trout  eggs  were  placed  on  a  copper-wire  screen,  in 
November,  1869,  at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds,  and  in  fifty 
days  they  had  absorbed  so  much  copper  that  they  were  of  a 
dark  brown  tinge,  and  hard  like  peas. 


56  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

breeding  is  carried  on  on  a  large  scale,  or  where  dura- 
bility, economy,  or  accessibility  must  be  consulted.* 

The  comparative  expense  of  the  two  methods  may 
be  estimated  as  follows  :  Glass  grilles  cost  per  tray 
$3.50  each,  by  the  quantity.f  Allowing  1,250  eggs  to 
each  tray,f  the  apparatus  for  hatching  100,000  eggs, 
with  glass  grilles,  costs  $  280. 

The  expense  of  the  patent  carbonized  troughs,  includ- 
ing cost  of  right  to  use  them,  is  less  than  forty  cents  a 
foot,  for  one  hundred  square  feet.  Allowing  1,000  eggs 
to  the  square  foot,  the  apparatus  for  hatching  100,000 
eggs,  with  the  carbonized  troughs,  costs  $40,  leaving  a 
balance  of  $  240  in  favor  of  the  carbonized  troughs. 

Besides  this,  in  the  country,  where  most  of  our  trout 
ponds  are  and  will  be,  the  wood  to  make  the  troughs, 
and  also  wood  to  char  them  with,  is  always  plenti- 
ful and  within  reach,  and,  once  prepared  and  placed, 
the  carbonized  troughs  will  last  no  one  can  tell  how 
long.  The  perfect  freedom  of  charcoal  from  fungus, 
and  its  tendency  to  purify  the  water,  will,  I  feel  confi- 
dent, make  it  a  favorite  for  hatching  all  eggs  that  are 
to  be  long  under  water.  The  carbonized  troughs  were 
first  experimented  with  at  the  writer's  salmon-breed- 
ing establishment  on  the  Mirimichi  River,  where  they 
worked  to  perfection.  They  have  since  been  used  at 
the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds,  and  have  given  the  most 
complete  satisfaction.  J 

*  See  extract  from  Dr.  Slack's  Catalogue  of  fish-breeding 
apparatus,  p.  65. 

t  See  Dr.  Slack's  Catalogue,  p.  4. 

\  The  use  of  charcoal  or  carbonized  wood  for  hatching  fish 
was  patented  by  the  writer,  June  20,  1871. 


HATCHING   APPARATUS.  57 

They  seem  to  have  solved  the  problem  of  obtaining 
a  safe,  economical,  and  durable  material  for  hatching 
trout.  I  am  aware  that  some  of  our  largest  operators 
have  used  wood  loosely  lined  with  glass,  but  it  costs  a 
good  deal  to  get  the  glass,  and  it  is  also  extremely  un- 
safe when  the  young  fry  hatch,  for  they  will  get  under 
the  glass  by  thousands,  and  die  of  suffocation ;  and 
nnally  it  does  not  answer  perfectly,  as  charcoal  does, 
the  purpose  for  which  it  is  used,  namely,  to  obviate 
the  growth  of  fungus. 

I  would  recommend,  therefore,  the  use  of  glass  grilles 
if  you  have  the  means  and  think  they  are  better.  Use 
charcoal  or  charred  wood  if  you  do  not  use  grilles. 

PLACING  THE  HATCHING  TROUGHS. 

Having  decided  on  the  material  for  the  hatching 
boxes,  the  next  thing  is  to  construct  and  place  them. 
If  you  use  charcoal  or  carbonized  troughs,  you  should 
first  send  to  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds,  at  Charles- 
town,  N.  H.,  and  obtain  the  right  to  use  them,  they 
being  patented,  and  the  directions  how  to  prepare 
them. 

As  to  the  size  and  shape  of  the  hatching  boxes  or ' 
troughs,  a  great  variety  of  opinion  prevails.  The  fol- 
lowing suggestions,  however,  may  serve  as  a  guide  in 
making  a  selection.  If  you  are  limited  in  your  supply 
of  water,  you  should  use  long  and  rather  narrow  troughs, 
say  twenty  feet  long  by  eight  inches  wide,  and  if  you 
wish,  you  can  have  another  trough  of  the  same  size  be- 
low the  first  tier,  using  the  same  water  over  again,  pro- 
vided you  have  a  fall  between  the  two  troughs  of  six 
3* 


5 8  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

or  eight  inches.  This  second  lower  tier  of  boxes  is, 
however,  somewhat  objectionable,  because  whenever 
the  screens  of  the  upper  boxes  are  cleaned,  or  the 
water  in  them  for  any  reason  disturbed,  the  lower  ones, 
in  taking  the  washings  from  the  upper,  must  suffer. 
This  can  be  obviated,  it  is  true,  by  cutting  off  the  water 
temporarily,  but  this,  again,  is  not  only  dangerous,  but 
often  inconvenient.  It  is  best,  therefore,  not  to  use  the 
water  but  once  in  hatching,  if  you  have  enough.  Still  it 
can  be  used  twice,  if  necessary,  without  great  injury. 
If  you  have  plenty  of  water,  I  would  recommend  shorter 
troughs  and  more  of  them.  There  is  no  harm  in  hav- 
ing them  twelve  inches  wide.  I  prefer  ten  or  eight 
inches,  however.  They  should  be  at  least  six  inches 
in  height  in  the  inside,  to  guard  against  their  running 
over,  from  the  screens  clogging  up,  and  it  is  desirable 
to  have  them  still  higher,  say  eight  inches,  if  you 
mean  to  keep  the  young  fry  in  them  any  considerable 
time  after  they  hatch.  The  troughs  should  be  divided 
into  compartments  about  one  inch  deep  and  fifteen 
inches  long,  by  nailing  charred  cleats  of  the  required 
depth  transversely  on  the  bottom  of  the  trough,  at 
regular  intervals  of  fifteen  inches.  The  head  of  the 
trough  should  be  placed  just  under  the  distribut- 
ing spout,  from  which  there  should  be  a  fall  of  a 
few  inches  ;  the  trough  should  be  high  enough  from  the 
floor,  if  practicable,  to  be  examined  by  a  person  stand- 
ing. The  troughs  should  be  inclined,  so  that  the  water 
will  make  a  gentle  ripple  over  the  cleats.  A  grade 
having  a  fall  of  one  and  one  fourth  inches  to  ten  feet 
will  do  very  well,  but  be  sure  to  have  enough  slope  to 


HATCHING   APPARATUS.  59 

make  the  ripple,  otherwise  your  fish,  when  hatched,  will 
not  be  as  strong  as  they  might  have  been.  At  the 
lower  end  of  the  trough  there  should  be  a  copper-wire 
screen  of  about  eighteen  or  twenty  threads  to  the  inch. 
This  screen  should  be  very  carefully  fitted  in,  and 
should  be  made  as  tight  a  fit  as  human  handiwork  can 
make  it,  otherwise  you  cannot  be  sure  that  the  young 
fry,  when  first  hatched,  will  not  slip  through.  In  order 
to  be  perfectly  sure  to  get  this  screen  safe,  first  exam- 
ine the  place  or  bed  that  it  fits  into,  with  a  strong  light, 
and  take  care  that  every  bit  of  sand  or  gravel  is  re- 
moved from  it  Then  put  down  the  screen,  having 
previously  arranged  a  perfectly  tight  fit  in  the  side 
cleats,  and  hammer  it  down. 

This  done,  sift  sand  along  the  bottom  and  sides  of 
the  screen,  bank  up  with  gravel  to  the  height  of  the 
transverse  cleats,  and  sift  sand  about  the  sides  again. 
You  are  then  as  safe  as  you  can  be  with  regard  to  the 
screen,  and  with  these  precautions  you  will  be  pretty 
sure  not  to  lose  many  fish  by  this  most  common  of  all 
avenues  of  escape,  —  loosely  fitting  screens.  Should 
any -aperture  be  caused  in  the  future  by  any  spring- 
ing or  shrinking  of  the  wood,  or  otherwise,  calk  the 
opening  with  flannel  without  delay.  Below  this  screen 
should  be  placed  what  is  called  a  trap-box,  to  catch 
any  of  the  young  fry  that  may  escape  through  the 
screen  above.  This  trap-box  is  nothing  but  a  com- 
mon box  with  a  wire  screen,  which  will  let  out  the 
water,  but  hold  the  fish  that  come  into  it.  I  would 
have  one  at  the  end  of  every  hatching  trough.  They 
are  a  very  important  safeguard,  for  they  not  only  save 


6O  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

all  the  fish  that  come  through  the  screen,  but  will  al- 
ways tell  you  whether  any  are  escaping,  and  also 
whether  the  screens  are  tight.  If  you  do  not  provide 
this  safeguard,  thousands  of  fish  may  escape  before 
you  know  it.  It  is  a  good  plan  also  to  have  a  larger 
box  or  reservoir,  still  farther  down,  on  a  similar  plan, 
collecting  the  water  from  all  the  troughs,  and  arranged 
so  as  to  detain  everything  that  may  have  escaped,  from 
any  cause,  from  above  ;  and  I  think  I  may  safely  say 
that  you  will  be  astonished  to  find  how  often  the 
young  fry  slip  past  places  that  you  have  considered 
perfectly  tight.  Having  so  far  prepared  the, hatching 
troughs  for  action,  and  having  tried  them  by  running  a 
stream  of  water  through  them,  the  next  thing  is 

LAYING  THE  GRAVEL. 

Gravel  is  used  to  hatch  the  eggs  upon.  This 
hatching  gravel  should  be  the  size  of  half  a  pea, 
or  less.  Coarser  gravel  will  not  do,  because  the, 
eggs  will  get  into  the  chinks  between  the  stones,  and, 
being  out  of  sight,  will  die  without  your  knowledge ; 
and  when  they  die,  the  'dead  eggs  will  certainly  grow 
the  fatal  byssus,  which  will  stretch  its  long  arms  out 
over  other  eggs  above  or  near  it,  and  destroy  them. 
Coarse  gravel  is  very  vexatious  on  this  account.  Any 
clean  gravel  of  the  right  size,  free  from  rust,  rotten 
stone,  and  the  like,  will  do,  and  you  will  frequently 
find  such  gravel  nearer  than  you  suppose.  It  is 
therefore  a  good  plan  to  try  any  high  banks  near  by, 
before  sending  a  great  way  for  it.  You  may  often 
find  just  what  you  want  in  a  bank  right  over  your 


HATCHING   APPARATUS.  6 1 

brook.  To  prepare  the  gravel  for  use,  you  should 
have  two  screens,  one  to  sift  out  the  sand,  and  another 
to  hold  the  coarse  gravel.  The  residue  which  remains 
in  the  first  and  goes  through  the  second  screen  is 
what  you  want  for  the  hatching  troughs. 

Having  obtained  the  right  size  of  gravel,  the  next 
thing  is  to  wash  it.  This  should  be  thoroughly  done. 
Then  you  can  boil  it,  if  you  wish,  to  kill  the  insect 
larvae  in  it ;  and  I  would  advise  you  to  do  this  by  all 
means,  for  the  larvae  in  unboiled  gravel  often  produce 
insects  that  are  very  destructive  to  the  eggs  and  young 
fish.  It  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  use  gravel  in 
charcoal  troughs,  as  the  eggs  will  hatch  safely  on  the 
charcoal  bottom.  Twenty  thousand  salmon-eggs  were 
placed  directly  on  the  bottom  of  the  charred  troughs, 
at  the  writer's  establishment  on  the  Mirimichi  River, 
by  way  of  experiment,  and  they  did  as  well  as  the 
others  hatched  on  gravel.  A  thin  layer  of  gravel, 
however,  is  recommended.  The  gravel,  if  used,  should 
be  evenly  placed  in  the  troughs  to  the  depth  of  about 
half  an  inch.  According  to  the  old  method  of  hatching 
on  wood  in  its  natural  condition,  the  gravel  was  placed 
an  inch  and  a  half  deep,  to  prevent  the  fungus  from 
growing  up  through  it ;  but  in  charcoal  troughs,  where 
there  is  no  fungus,  half  an  inch  in  depth,  and  even 
less,  is  sufficient.  Be  careful  to  level  it  off  evenly, 
and  leave  no  holes  or  depressions,  or  the  eggs  will 
surely  collect  in  them  deeper  than  they  ought  to. 

There  is  always  so  much  use  for  gravel  about  trout- 
breeding  works,  that  it  is  a  good  plan  to  save  all  kinds, 
and  what  has  been  used  once,  and  not  washed,  put 


62  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

away  by  itself.  It  is  therefore  a  good  plan  to  have 
four  barrels  or  large  boxes  in  the  hatching  house,  — 
one  for  coarse  gravel  not  clean,  and  one  for  fine  gravel 
not  clean,  one  for  clean  coarse  gravel,  and  one  for 
clean  fine  gravel.  These  boxes  should  be  distinctly 
labelled,  so  that  clean  and  dirty  gravel  will  not  get 
mixed  ;  and  in  course  of  time  this  little  systematizing 
of  the  gravel  will  be  found  to  be  a  source  of  great 
convenience,  and  economy  also.  A  bushel  of  prepared 
gravel  usually  costs  more  than  a  bushel  of  grain. 

When  the  gravel  is  laid  in  .the  troughs  and  the 
water  is  turned  on,  they  are  ready  for  use,  with  one 
exception,  viz.,  — 

THE  COVERS. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  that  hatching  troughs  should 
be  covered.  I  would  not  have  one  without  a  cover. 
Trout  eggs  and  salmon  fry  are  stronger  and  healthier 
for  being  hatched  in  the  dark.  It  is  more  natural 
also.  The  foetus,  or  embryo,  of  almost  every  creature  — 
beast,  bird,  or  fish,  everything  above  insect  life  —  is 
developed  in  the  dark.  The  embryo  of  the  trout  is 
no  exception  to  the  rule.  After  the  parent  trout  has 
deposited  its  eggs  in  the  bed  of  the  brook,  the  gravel 
with  which  they  are  covered,  the  stratum  of  water 
above  the  gravel,  and  the  layer  of  ice  and  snow  above 
the  water,  make  it  as  dark,  where  the  eggs  are,  as  it  is 
in  the  covered  hatching-troughs. 

Furthermore,  the  light  seems  to  have  a  forcing 
effect  on  the  eggs  ;  and  those  that  I  have  seen  matured 
in  the  light  did  not  contain  the  dark,  thick,  firm, 


HATCHING    APPARATUS.  63 

vigorous-looking  embryos  that  are  sure  to  develop  in 
the  dark.  At  all  events,  my  experience  has  been 
decidedly  to  the  effect  that  eggs  hatched  in  the  dark 
develop  a  thicker,  firmer,  and  harder  fish  than  those 
hatched  in  the  light ;  and  the  first  three  months  of 
feeding  proves  it.  I  am  sure,  at  least,  that  no  young 
•trout  fry  could  be  hardier  or  healthier  than  mine  have 
been  through  their  first  six  months,  and  all  of  mine 
are  hatched  in  covered  hatching  troughs. 

But  even  if  darkness  were  not  desirable,  there  is 
another  reason  of  the  utmost  importance  for  having 
covers  on  the  troughs.  It  is  that  you  are  not  certain 
that  your  eggs  are  safe  a  single  night  in  the  open 
troughs.  The  enemies  of  trout  eggs  are  legion. 
Mice,  snakes,  lizards,  rats,  weasels,  and  you  know  not 
what  else,  may  be  feeding  on  the  eggs  every  night  if 
they  are  not  covered.  I  lost  thousands  of  eggs  and 
alevin  trout  in  this  way,  before  I  began  to  use  covers. 
At  the  Mirimichi  Works,  we  lost  at  least  twenty  thou- 
sand salmon  eggs,  in  the  course  of  two  weeks,  by  a 
weasel,  before  we  began  to  suspect  danger.  There  is 
no  security  without  covers,  at  least  in  ordinary  hatching- 
houses.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  covers  are  on 
and  down  tight,  then,  and  only  then,  you  know  you  are 
safe.  And  this  is  the  only  normal  condition  that  any 
department  of  a  trout-breeding  establishment  should 
ever  be  in. 

The  covers,  for  convenience'  sake,  should  be  made  as 
light  as  possible.  Half-inch  pine,  and  even  thinner, 
answers  very  well.  There  should  be  a  piece  cut  out 
at  the  upper  end  to  let  in  the  water,  and  wire  netting 


64  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

should  be  tacked  over  this  opening,  so  that  there  can 
be  no  danger  of  anything  getting  in  there  •  and  if  the 
covers  do  not  fit  down  tight,  they  should  be  hooked 
down,  or  caught  with  a  spring.  When  the  carpenter 
puts  on  the  covers,  examine  them  carefully,  and  see 
that  there  are  no  chinks  to  admit  even  a  lizard.  If 
there  are  not,  then  your  hatching  boxes  are  complete 
in  every  respect,  and,  if  the  previous  suggestions  have 
been  carried  out,  will  do  their  work  to  your  perfect 
satisfaction. 

I  have  proceeded  thus  far  on  the  supposition  that 
troughs  of  carbonized  wood  or  other  material  are  used. 
For  the  guidance  of  those  who  prefer  glass  grilles  I 
quote  the  following  remarks  upon  them  from  "  Harper's 
Magazine  "  *  and  from  Dr.  Slack's  Catalogue  of  fish 
culturist's  apparatus. 

"  The  Coste  Hatching  Tray  (glass  grilles)  consists  of 
a  trough  (made  of  earthen-ware,  glass,  or  slate)  about 
two  feet  long,  six  inches  wide,  and  four  inches  deep. 
On  the  inside,  about  two  and  a  half  inches  from  the 
bottom,  are  small  projections,  upon  which  rests  a  glass 
grille,  a  species  of  gridiron  formed  of  glass  tubes 
placed  closely  together,  the  ends  being  confined  in  a 
wooden  rack.  There  is  a  spout  on  one  side  and  at 
the  top  of  the  box  to  run  off  the  surplus  water  ;  at  the 
bottom  and  below  the  level  of  the  grille  are  two  other 
openings,  usually  stopped,  but  convenient  to  open  in 
order  to  remove  the  sediment  which  from  time  to 
time  collects.  In  using  these  hatching  boxes  water 
can  be  supplied  from  a  water-cooler  through  a  filter, 
*  Harper's  Magazine,  November,  1868,  pp.  728,  729. 


HATCHING   APPARATUS.  65 

and  after  passing  through  the  box  it  can  be  caught 
and  used  over  again.  If  water  has  been  laid  in  the 
house,  a  constant  stream  of  fresh  water  can  be  kept 
flowing  with  less  trouble  by  using  a  discharge-pipe 
instead  of  a  receiver.  In  one  such  box  a  thousand 
eggs  —  the  product  of  a  single  trout  —  may  be  hatched. 
It  will  require  no  more  attention  than  a  globe  of  gold- 
fish, far  less  than  an  aquarium,  afford  a  far  more 
interesting  study  than  either,  and  be  quite  as  much  of 
a  parlor  ornament. 

"  If  it  is  desired  to  experiment  more  largely,  this  box 
may  be  duplicated  interminably,  as  has  been  done  by 
Mr.  Coste,  in  perfecting  his  apparatus  in  use  at 
Huningue.  No  greater  supply  of  water  and  very  little 
more  room  is  necessary  for  a  dozen  than  for  one  box 
on  this  plan.  The  advantages  of  this  apparatus  are  : 
First,  cleanliness,  the  sediment  being  easily  removed 
without  disturbing  the  eggs ;  secondly,  the  eggs  can 
at  all  times  be  readily  examined  ;  and  thirdly,  the  fry 
or  young  fishes  can  be  removed  from  one  box  to 
another  with  facility,  thus  leaving  room  for  more  eggs 
in  the  first  boxes." 

These  trays,  invented  by  M.  Coste,  Professor  of 
Embryology  in  the  College  of  France,  have  been 
used  during  the  past  season  at  my  ponds  with  perfect 
success,  and  it  is  intended  in  future  to  hatch  all  our 
spawn  in  them.  The  boxes  are  made  of  the  best  gal- 
vanized sheet-iron,  and  are  coated  inside  and  out  with 
asphalt  varnish.  The  grille  is  composed  of  strong 
glass  tubes,  firmly  fastened  in  a  frame  of  black  walnut. 
This  is  so  arranged  that  should  any  of  the  tubes  be- 


66  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

come  broken  they  can  be  readily  removed  and  others 
substituted.  Each  box  will  hatch  from  one  thousand 
to  fifteen  hundred  eggs. 

Prices  of  Coste  Hatching  Trays. 

Single  trays $4.00 

One  dozen  trays 45 .00 

Fifty  or  over,  at  the  rate  of 3  50 

Extra  glass  tubes  (each) .05 

"         "        "      per  pound .75 

FLIGHT  OF  TRAYS  WITH  STAND. 

This  is  a  neat  and  convenient  form  when  several 
trays  are  required. 

The  stands  are  made  of  the  best  seasoned  white- 
pine,  neatly  framed  together. 

Prices. 

Flight  of  five  trays  and  stand $21.00 

three  "               " 13.50 

Stands  for  five  trays 2.50 

"          three    "    .        .        .        .        .        .        .  2.00* 

There  is  another  form  of  grilles  used,  which  has 
stood  the  test  of  experience  very  well.  It  consists  of 
very  narrow  strips  of  window-glass,  laid  side  by  side 
in  the  hatching-box,  an  inch  or  two  from  the  bottom, 
and  closely  enough  to  keep  the  eggs  from  falling  be- 
tween them,  but  wide  enough  apart  to  allow  the 
hatched  fish  to  fall  through.  Each  alternate  strip  is 

*  Dr.  Slack's  Catalogue  of  fishes,  and  apparatus  used  in  fish 
culture,  pp.  4,  5. 


HATCHING   APPARATUS.  6/ 

placed  about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  lower  than  the  rest. 
In  this  depression  the  eggs  lie  until  hatched,  when  the 
young  fish  fall  into  the  box  or  trough  below.  The  .ad- 
vantage of  this  class  of  grilles  over  the  last  form  is 
that  they  are  cheaper.  Another  advantage  is  that 
they  can  be  used  in  water  where  too  much  sediment 
would  collect  on  tight  grilles  or  in  troughs,  the  sedi- 
ment being  easily  washed  off  the  eggs  on  the  strips, 
and  sinking  down  through  the  apertures  out  of  the 
way. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  NURSERY. 

THE  next  use  for  the  water,  after  it  passes  over  the 
eggs,  is  for  rearing  the  young  fish. 
This  department  should  be  arranged  with  great  care, 
as  it  is  here  that  the  trout  pass  through  the  most  deli- 
cate portion  of  their  lives,  and  require  the  most  vigi- 
lant attention.  Hatching  trout  is  easy  enough,  and  so 
is  the  growing  of  them,  after  they  are  a  year  old.  But 
to  bring  them  through  the  first  year,  and  especially 
the  first  six  months,  is  a  more  difficult  matter.  This 
was  the  snag  on  which  the  earlier  trout-breeding  enter- 
prisers were  wrecked,  and  it  is  here  that  the  greatest 
losses  have  occurred  with  most  trout  breeders  at  all 
times.  This  has  been  the  one  weak  point  of  trout- 
raising,  and  those  who  have  succeeded  in  all  other 
points  have  often  failed  here.  It  is  obvious,  then, 
that  it  is  very  important  to  have  this  department  just 
right. 

THE  WATER. 

The  water  coming  from  the  hatching-troughs  should 
have  considerable  fall  before  it  enters  upon  this  part 
of  its  work,  and  the  more  the  better,  up  to  the  height 
of  three  feet,  especially  if  any  young  fish  are  still  kept 
in  the  troughs. 

If  it  is  proposed  to  raise  the  young  fry  in  a  pond, 


THE    NURSERY.  69 

then  nothing  needs  to  be  done  with  the  water  but  to 
let  it  flow  into  the  pond  in  the  way  most  natural  to  it ; 
but  if  boxes  or  tanks  are  used  to  raise  the  young 
fish  in,  then  it  is  desirable  to  collect  together  all 
the  water  from  the  various  troughs  into  a  common 
reservoir,  or  at  least  into  a  common  aqueduct,  from 
which  to  draw,  in  the  quantities  needed,  for  the  supply 
of  the  rearing  boxes. 

Leaving  the  water  here,  we  will  enter  at  once  upon 
the  discussion  of  the  methods  of  rearing  the  young  fry. 

The  methods  are  two  in  number,  —  i,  By  the  use  of 
ponds  ;  and  2,  by  the  use  of  rearing  boxes  or  nurseries. 
Of  these  two  methods  the  rearing  boxes  are  by  far 
the  safest  for  the  first  two  or  three  months.  I  do  not 
deny  that  satisfactory  results  have  been  obtained  from 
the  use  of  ponds  at  this  stage,  but  I  regard  these  as 
the  exceptions.  They  were  ponds  peculiarly  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  young  fry.  As  a  rule,  not  one  pond 
in  ten,  nor  one  in  twenty,  is  safe  for  the  very  young  fry. 

Ponds,  when  contrasted  with  rearing  boxes,  present 
the  following  points  of  comparison. 

i.  As  soon  as  the  young  fish  are  put  into  the  pond 
they  scatter  to  all  parts  of  it,  and  cannot  be  brought 
together  to  feed.  The  consequence  is  that  many  get 
away  into  corners  or  holes,  become  weak  from  want  of 
food,  and  die,  while  nineteen  twentieths  of  the  food 
fed  to  the  fry  in  the  pond  is  wasted,  and  only  serves 
to  foul  the  water.  In  rearing  boxes  the  fish  are  all 
kept  compactly  together,  where  they  are  evenly  fed, 
and  where,  owing  to  their  being  compact,  almost  all 
the  food  is  consumed. 


7O  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

2.  In  ponds  the  young  fish  are  exposed  to  all  their 
enemies,  whose  name  is  Legion.    Without  enumerating 
them  all  again,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  birds,  frogs, 
and  snakes  will  depopulate  a  pond  of  young  trout  with 
surprising  despatch. 

Rearing  boxes  being  so  prepared  that  when  the  lid 
is  shut  down  nothing  can  get  in  and  nothing  get  out, 
the  safety  of  the  fish  is  by  this  arrangement  immeas- 
urably increased. 

3.  In  ponds  the  green  Conferva  (frog-spittle)  may 
grow.     If  it  does,  it  will  probably  cost  you  a  great 
many  fish.     It  will  not  trouble  you  in  the  rearing  box. 

4.  The  comparatively  still  water  of  ponds  is  often 
unfavorable  to  the  young  fry  inclined  to  be  sickly. 
This  objection  is  obviated  in  the  rearing  box. 

5.  In  ponds  there  are  likely  to  be  unnoticed  crevi- 
ces, —  at  least,  more  than  in  rearing  boxes,  —  where 
the  young  fry  often  escape  without  your  knowledge. 
In  rearing  boxes  perfect  security  can  be  obtained  in 
this  respect. 

6.  Dangers  sometimes  exist  in  ponds  for  weeks  un- 
noticed.    In  rearing  boxes  the  trout  and  the  whole 
apparatus  are  so  wholly  under  your  eye  that  perfect 
security  from  this  source,  also,  may  be  acquired. 

7.  When  in  ponds,  you  cannot  keep  account  of  the 
numbers  of  the  fish  without  much  trouble.     When  in 
rearing  boxes,  they  can  be  taken  out  at  a  moment's 
notice,  and  counted. 

Seth  Green  suggests  that  the  hatching  troughs  be  used 
until  the  fish  are  large  enough  for  ponds  ;  this,  he  says, 
saves  one  removal.  This  may  answer  sometimes,  but 
it  is  open  to  these  objections  :  — 


THE    NURSERY.  7  I 

a.  The  hatching-house  water  is  too  cold  and  earthy, 
if  I  may  use  the  expression. 

b.  If  other  hatching  troughs  work  like   mine, .the 
screens  will  clog  up,  and  call  for  extra  watching. 

c.  The  fish  must  be  very  much  thinned  out  to  make 
this  method  work,  and  in  this  case  the  one  removal  is 
not  saved. 

d.  The  fry  do  not  do  so  well,  in  actual  practice,  in 
the  troughs,  as  they  do  in  the  rearing  boxes.     I  may 
also  add  that  Green's  partner,  Mr.  Collins,  sent  last 
spring  for  my  rearing  box  to  use  at  Caledonia. 

My  experience  has  all  been  one  way  in  this  mat- 
ter. I  have  tried  all  kinds  of  ponds  for  very  young 
fry,  and  in  every  instance  have  lost  most  of  them, 
while  in  rearing  boxes  in  most  instances  I  have  had 
surprising  success,  the  loss  having  been  very  small 
indeed. 

I  am  aware  that  the  experience  of  others  has  been 
different,  and  that  they  have  found  ponds  more  suc- 
cessful than  boxes  ;  but  I  repeat,  that  I  think  the  ponds 
were  exceptions,  and  that  nineteen  ponds  out  of 
twenty  are  not  safe  for  the  very  young  fry. 

The  use  of  rearing  boxes  is  accordingly  recom- 
mended, in  preference  to  ponds,  for  the  very  young 
fish. 

The  principles  of  the  rearing  box  will  be  described 
in  the  next  few  pages. 

REARING   BOXES. 

A  rearing  box  in  its  simplest  form  is  very  simple  ;  a 
common  soap  or  candle  box,  with  a  wire  screen  at 


72  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

one  end,  and  some  gravel  on  the  bottom,  with  a  stream 
of  water  running  through,  is  a  rearing  box,  and  will 
do,  if  only  a  hundred  or  two  young  fry  are  to  be 
raised. 

A  rearing  box  in  its  most  perfect  form  is  a  more 
elaborate  and  complicated  thing,  and  should  combine 
these  points,*  viz.  :  — 

1.  A  fall  of  water. 

2.  A  current  of  water. 

3.  Protection  against  too  forcible  suction  through 
the  outlet  screen. 

4.  Security  from  overflow. 

5.  Absence  of  fixed  hiding-places. 

6.  Compactness  of  fish  themselves  for  feeding. 

7.  Protection  against  outside  enemies. 

8.  Perfectly  tight  joints. 

9.  Protection  against  fungus. 

1.  A  fall  of  water.     The  very  young  fry  need  all 
fhe  vitality  and  freshness  which  can  be  given  to  the 
water ;  and  that  imparted  to  it  by  a  fall  immediately 
above  them  is  too  valuable  to  be  disregarded.     Ex- 
perience has  proved,  also,  that  all  trout  do  best  just 
below  a  fall  of  water. 

2.  A  current.     If  you  want  to  make  hardy  fish,  give 
the  young  fry  a  current  to  head  up  against ;  this  is  not 
only  more  natural,  but  it  will  keep  them  clean  and 
vigorous,  while  in  (relatively)  still  water  they  will  often 
take  on  a  fungus  growth   or  fin   disease,  which   will 

*  It  should  be  added  here,  that  ponds  for  young  fry  should,  as 
far  as  possible,  be  constructed  on  the  same  general  principles  that 
are  recommended  for  rearing  boxes. 


THE    NURSERY.  73 

finally  kill  them.  Again,  by  compelling  the  young 
fish  to  head  up  against  a  current,  you  not  only  keep 
them  healthy,  but  can  even  sometimes  save  their  lives 
when  they  have  become  sickly,  and  would  otherwise 
have  died. 

The  way  to  raise  hardy,  healthy  trout  is  to  put  the 
young  fry  in  a  current,  and  keep  them  strong  enough, 
by  feeding,  to  make  them  feel  like  heading  up 
against  it. 

3.  Protection  against  too  forcible  suction  through  the 
outlet.     If  the  pressure  against  the  screen  is  too  vio- 
lent, the  fish  will  be   sucked  against  it,   and   cannot 
keep  off.    A  very  wide  screen  is  the  protection  against 
this,  or,  if  necessary,  a   dead-water  board,  nailed  on 
below  the  screen. 

4.  Security  from  overflow.     When  sudden    showers 
come  up,  especially  in  the  early  summer,  the  ,streams 
will  collect  so  much  fine  floating  matter  as  to  clog  up 
the  screens  very  rapidly. 

A  very  little  of  the  green  Conferva,  sometimes 
called  frog-spittle,  will  give  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
from  this  cause.  Various  other  circumstances  also 
make  it  important  to  take  especial  pains  to  guard 
against  an  overflow.  This  is  accomplished  by  having 
deep  sides  to  the  rearing  box,  and  by  the  use  of  wide 
screens.  Sometimes,  in  order  to  obtain  perfect  secur- 
ity, it  is  found  necessary  to  insert  a  long  narrow  screen 
in  the  side  of  the  box,  near  the  top,  called  a  safety 
screen.  This,  with  the  regular  screen  at  the  outlet, 
will  usually  take  the  water  off  sufficiently  fast  when  it 
rises  to  the  safety-screen  level. 


74  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

5.  Absence  of  fixed  hiding-places.     Such  hiding-places 
are  bad,  because  in  general  you  do  not  know  what  the 
fish  are  doing  in  them.     They  may  be  dying  there. 
They  may  be  crowding  in   them  too   thickly.     The 
hiding-places  may  conceal  a  snake,  or  a  frog,  or  a 
cannibal   trout,  which  is   making   deadly  havoc  with 
the    small   fish.      The   best    rule    for    hiding-places 
is,   not  to   have   them  fixed,   but  so   that    you   can 
always    remove    the    shelter,    and    look    in    if   you 
wish ;   then   you    will    know    what   is    going   on    in 
them. 

6.  Compactness  of  the  fish  themselves  for  feeding.   This 
I  regard  as  a  very  important  point.     When  the  very 
young  fry  are  scattered  widely  apart,  you  are  obliged 
to  feed  them  at  a  great  disadvantage. 

Only  a  few  can  be  got  together  in  a  spot  to  feed. 
Sometimes  they  are  so  shy  that  they  can  only  be  fed 
at  all  with  great  difficulty,  and,  with  the  best  you  can 
do,  nineteen  twentieths  of  the  food  will  go  to  the  bot- 
tom. On  the  contrary,  when  the  fish  are  compactly 
confined,  their  numbers  seem  to  give  them  confidence, 
and  they  do  not  attempt  to  run  away  from  the  food. 
They  will  gather  together  to  get  it,  instead  of  scatter- 
ing as  before  ;  and,  being  so  thick  together,  they  will 
consume  nearly  all  the  food  given  them,  and  very  little 
will  go  to  the  bottom.  The  advantage  gained  by  this 
is  very  great. 

7.  Protection  against  outside  enemies.     The  necessity 
of  this  protection  is   obvious.     It  is  obtained  by  at- 
taching to   the   rearing  box   a   wire-work  lid,   fitting 
down  tightly,  and  provided  with  a  padlock. 


THE   NURSERY.  75 

It  is  necessary  to  have  even  the  opening  where  the 
water  falls  in  protected  by  a  wire  screen. 

One  autumn  I  lost  several  hundreds  of  fine  trout, 
three  inches  long,  by  something,  I  never  knew  what, 
entering  the  boxes  where  the  water  came  in. 

The  cover  can  be  made  of  wooden  slats,  if  preferred  ; 
but  they  should  be  very  close,  for  snakes,  which  are 
very  destructive  to  young  fish  when  confined,  will  ven- 
ture through  holes  which  are  big  enough  to  admit 
their  bodies. 

8.  Perfectly  tight  joints.  Only  a  person  who  has 
had  many  years'  experience  in  raising  young  fish 
knows  the  whole  significance  of  this  precaution.  The 
knack  which  young  trout  have  of  going  through  very 
small  crevices  is  almost  incredible.  I  once  made  a 
solid  bank  of  fine  hatching  gravel  a  foot  long,  to  hold 
some  young  fry.  In  a  week  three  hundred  had  found 
their  way  through  it.  I  venture  to  say  that  there  is 
not  a  trout  breeder  who  reads  this  page,  who  has  not 
lost  more  or  less  young  fry,  through  some  unnoticed 
crevice  in  their  place  of  confinement. 

It  seems  as  if  they  had  the  gift  of  flattening  them- 
selves almost  indefinitely.  At  all  events,  they  will 
squeeze  through  a  wonderfully  small  crevice,  so  that 
the  only  safe  way  is  to  examine  the  box  or  trough 
thoroughly  and  make  every  joint  perfectly  tight.  If 
this  cannot  be  done  effectually  with  hammer  and  nails, 
the  places  should  be  calked  with  flannel,  or  something 
similar.  The  outlet  screen  should  be  as  fine  as  eigh- 
teen threads  to  the  inch.  With  anything  larger  than 
that,  the  fry  will  get  their  bodies  through,  and  hang 
themselves  by  the  neck. 


76  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

9.  Protection  against  fungus.  Last,  but  not  least, 
there  should  be  no  possibility  of  fungus  getting 
on  to  the  young  fish.  I  wish  I  could  find  words  to 
describe  how  infectious  and  how  fatal  this  ubiquitous 
enemy  is  to  trout.  If  they  are  exposed  to  it,  it  will 
attack  their  fins,  gills,  and  every  part  of  them,  and, 
long  before  they  begin  to  show  it  by  dying,  it  may 
have  spread  over  your  whole  brood,  and  rendered 
them  past  saving  even  when  its  presence  is  first  dis- 
covered. I  have  known  instances  where  persons  have 
found  their  trout  dying,  and  upon  moving  them  to 
other  places,  and  taking  every  pains  with  them,  have 
wondered  why  they  continued  to  die,  with  everything 
apparently  favorable  to  their  health,  while  the  fact  was 
that  the  fatal  fungus  had  fastened  upon  them  and 
doomed  them  to  death  days,  perhaps  weeks,  before 
they  were  first  moved.  You  cannot  take  too  much 
pains  to  avoid  fungus.  The  best  way  to  do  it  —  and 
it  is  a  sure  way  —  is  to  char  the  inner  surface  of  all 
the  woodwork  leading  to  the  rearing-boxes,  and  also 
the  rearing  boxes  themselves.  This  is  a  sure  preventa- 
tive,  and  the  only  satisfactory  one  I  know  of. 

The  above  points  should  be  secured  *  in  the  rearing 
box  for  the  young  fry,  and  when  they  are  so  secured, 
if  the  water  supply  is  right,  the  box  may  be  regarded 
as  a  suitable  place  for  growing  them  in  the  first  two 
or  three  months,  and  much  safer,  as  a  general  thing, 
than  a  pond.  I  should  call  the  maximum  water 
supply,  just  that  amount  which  the  fish  will  bear 

*  It  was  to  combine  these  points  that  the  rearing  box  of  the 
Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  was  contrived. 


THE   NURSERY.  77 

without  being  carried  down  with  it.  The  minimum 
supply  for  very  young  fish  is  less  than  one  would 
suppose. 

A  cold  stream  throwing  one  hundred  gallons  an 
hour  will  keep  ten  thousand  alive,  with  a  proper  fall 
and  current ;  but  this  minimum  should  not  be  resorted 
to  except  in  cases  of  necessity. 

If  you  have  a  large  number  of  fry  to  raise  in  rearing 
boxes,  build  a  platform  where  you  want  the  boxes. 

Make  all  the  boxes  of  the  same  size.*  Place  them 
in  a  line,  side  by  side,  have  your  distributing-spout 
just  over  the  upper  end  of  the  boxes,  and  draw  the 
water  from  it  just  as  you  draw  the  water  from  the  dis- 
tributing spout  in  the  house  into  the  hatching  troughs. 
This  gives  uniformity  and  system,  and  increases  the 
convenience  of  feeding  and  taking  care  of  the  fish. 

Place  a  layer  of  gravel  in  each  of  the  boxes  in  such 
a  way  that  the  water  will  be  deepest  under  the  fall,  and 
the  bed  of  the  boxes  will  slope  up  towards  the  outlet. 
Provide  water-plants  as  freely  as  you  please.  Below 
the  system  of  rearing  boxes  place  a  long  trap-box,  with 
a  screen,  which  will  catch  everything  that  escapes  from 
them  by  accident. 

Then  your  arrangement  for  growing  the  young  fish 
by  this  method  will  be  complete. 

If  ponds  are  used,  they  should  be  shallow,  narrow, 
very  tight,  and  should  be  well  stocked  with  water- 

*  Four  feet  long  by  sixteen  inches  wide  and  sixteen  inches 
deep  is  a  good  size. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  widen  the  outlet  and  to  admit  a  larger 
screen,  say  twenty-eight  by  sixteen  inches. 


78  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

plants,*  which  will  improve  the  water  and  give  the 
fish  a  chance  to  hide  from  their  enemies,  and  supply 
them  with  a  good  deal  of  natural  food. 

The  ponds  should  be  also  well  provided  with  covers 
or  rafts  for  shelter. 

Even  then  I  would  have  the  ponds  constructed  on 
the  principle  of  rearing-boxes,  but  I  wish  it  distinctly 
understood  only  for  very  young  fry.  I  am  myself  in 
favor  of  turning  the  fish  into  safe  ponds  after  they  are 
two  or  three  months  old,  but  not  before. 

They  are  so  small  and  frail  at  first,  that  it  seems  to 
me  no  better  than  destroying  them  by  wilful  neglect 
to  turn  them  loose  into  ponds  when  they  begin  to  feed. 

*  See  Appendix  III ,  pp.  274,  275,  for  list  of  water-plants. 


PART    II. 

PROCESSES  IN  TROUT  BREEDING. 


PROCESSES   IN   TROUT  BREEDING. 


CHAPTER    I. 

TAKING  THE  EGGS* 

INTRODUCTION. 

WE  now  turn  from  the  construction  of  the  works 
required  by  the  processes  of  trout  breeding  to 
the  processes  themselves.  The  first  in  order  of  these 
is,  taking  spawn.  This  is  a  department  of  the  trout- 
breeder's  work  which  it  is  very  important  to  under- 
stand thoroughly,  for  it  depends  on  his  success  here 
whether  he  secures  most  of  the  increase  of  his  breed- 
ing stock,  or  whether  he  loses  most  of  it.  A  careless 
and  unskilful  person  will  not  save  over  twenty  per 
cent.  A  careful  and  skilful  operator  will  not  lose  five 
per  cent.  The  reader  can  see  for  himself  what  a  vast 
difference  this  makes,  when  hundreds  of  thousands,  or 
even  millions,  are  the  numbers  dealt  with. 

This  branch  of  the  work  is  no  child's  play.  It 
constitutes  an  art  by  itself,  and  requires,  for  its 
success,  knowledge,  proficiency,  and  skill.  Do  not 
neglect  to  give  this  department  careful  study. 

*  For  description  of  eggs,  see  p.  106.  For  number  of  eggs, 
see  pp.  267,  268.  For  spawning  season  of  different  fish,  see 
pp.  270,  271. 

4* 


82  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  SPAWNING. 

It  is  very  desirable  to  have  the  preparations  for  the 
spawning  season  completed  before  the  season  begins, 
as  it  is  often  very  inconvenient  to  attend  to  them  after- 
wards. The  hatching  apparatus  and  experiment  boxes, 
the  filtering  tank,  and  all  the  aqueducts  above  the 
hatching  apparatus,  should  be  thoroughly  cleaned  out 
and  put  in  readiness.  The  spring  or  supply  reservoir 
should  be  put  in  just  the  condition  you  mean  to  have 
it  left  in  for  the  winter,  for  that  often  cannot  be  dis- 
turbed after  the  spawn  are  laid.  The  gravel  for  hatch- 
ing should  be  obtained,  sifted  and  washed  and  boiled, 
two  sets  -of  flannel  filters  made,  and  ready  to  place, 
and  the  outlet  screens  ready  to  drop  in  their  grooves. 
A  set  of  nippers  and  a  bunch  of  feathers  should  be  in 
their  places,  as  also  homoeopathic  phials  for  examin- 
ing the  eggs,  the  spawning  pans  for  taking  them  in, 
moss  to  pack  them  with,  and  the  tin  boxes  in  which  to 
send  them  away. 

At  the  breeding  ponds,  the  spawning  races  should 
be  thoroughly  cleaned  out,  and  clean  gravel  put  in, 
or  the  Ainsworth  and  the  Collins  apparatus  *  placed  in 
readiness  where  these  are  used.  A  notice  should  be 
put  up  that  visitors  must  not  go  to  the  breeding 
grounds  till  the  season  is  over.  The  covers  for  tho. 
spawning  beds  should  be  ready  and  down.  The  nets 
and  the  rest  of  the  spawning  outfit  should  be  at  hand, 

*  For  description  of  the  Ainsworth  and  the  Collins  Spawning 
Apparatus,  see  pp.  29  -  36. 


TAKING   THE    EGGS.  83 

and  yourself  free  to  attend  to  the  spawning  as  soon 
as  the  season  begins. 

THE  SPAWNING  SEASON. 

As  the  cold  fall  days  come  on,  the  male  trout  take 
on  brighter  colors,  the  lower  rays  of  the  anal  and 
ventral  fins  show  brilliantly  white,  their  bodies  grow 
lank,  their  noses  sharp,  and  there  is  an  unmistakable 
air  of  expectancy  in  their  whole  expression,  peculiar  to 
this  period.  The  females  grow  big  with  spawn,  and 
lose  some  of  the  brightness  of  their  color,  though 
their  forms  still  retain  a  grace  which  does  not  leave 
them  till  the  eggs  are  deposited.  You  need  not 
have  any  fear  about  telling  the  sexes  apart.  After  a 
very  little  experience,  you  can  hardly  make  a  mistake 
in  this  particular,  at  this  season.  The  brief  descrip- 
tion just  given  will  be  a  sufficient  guide. 

Some  time  before  any  eggs  are  deposited,  both 
sexes  become  indifferent  to  food,  and  work  up  into 
the  shallow  swifter  water  -below  the  spawning  beds, 
the  males  usually  in  advance.  By  the  second  week 
in  October,  and  sometimes  before,  in  the  mean  latitude 
of  New  England,  a  few  stragglers,  like  advance  skir- 
mishers, will  get  into  the  beds  and  begin  making  their 
nests.  The  exciting  season  of  taking  spawn  is  now 
close  at  hand,  and  as  soon  as  you  perceive  that  the 
fish  on  the  beds  have  completed  their  nests,  you  may, 
if  you  adopt  the  artificial  method  of  taking  the  eggs, 
proceed  to  try  whether  they  are  ripe.* 

*  For  directions  for  collecting  the  eggs  obtained  by  the 
"  natural  "  method,  see  remarks  about  Ainsvvorth's  Screens  and 
Collins's  Roller  Spawning- Box,  pp.  ?^  ••  ^6. 


84  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

The  method  of  capturing  the  spawning  fish  is  as 
follows  :  A  net  of  coarse  bagging,  six  or  eight  feet 
long,  is  made.  The  edges  of  the  upper  end  of  the 
bag  are  fastened  to  a  common  wooden  screen  frame, 
which  then  forms  the  mouth  of  it.  This  frame  fits 
into  grooves  made  for  it,  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
spawning  beds.  The  other  or  closed  end  of  the  bag 
is  made  to  taper  somewhat,  and  an  opening,  say  fif- 
teen inches  in  length,  is  cut  in  it  to  let  the  fish 
through  into  the  spawning  tub.  This  is  to  avoid 
pouring  them  out  from  the  upper  end.  This  aperture 
is  tied  up  with  a  string  before  the  bag  is  put  in  posi- 
tion, and  a  large  tub  to  receive  the  fish  is  placed  on 
the  ground  close  to  the '  outlet  of  the  spawning  bed, 
where  the  bag  will  be  placed. 

Now,  having  brought  spawning  pans  enough  to  take 
the  spawn  in,  you  approach  the  beds  carefully  with 
the  bagging  in  your  hands.  You  slip  the  frame  at  the 
mouth  of  the  bag  instantly  into  the  grooves  prepared 
for  it,  and  the  spawning  fish  are  trapped.  You  now, 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  fill  the  tub  half  full 
of  water.  Keep  the  spawning  pans  perfectly  dry,  place 
them  conveniently,  and  throw  off  the  covers  of  the  beds. 

The  fish,  with  a  little  urging,  will  rush  down  stream 
and  hide  in  the  bag.  When  they  are  all  in,  raise  the 
bag  up  quickly  but  gently,  drop  the  lower  end  into 
the  tub  of  water,  untie  the  string,  and  let  them  out. 
If  you  have  many  fish  and  an  attendant  to  help  you, 
it  is  a  good  plan  to  have  two  pails  of  water  at  hand, 
and  to  have  your  attendant,  while  you  are  taking  the 
spawn,  sort  the  males  into  one  pail  and  the  females 


TAKING   THE    EGGS.  85 

into  another,  so  that  you  can  always  lay  your  hand 
instantly  on  the  sex  you  want.  Having  got  everything 
ready  and  the  fish  into  the  tub,  the  next  thing  is  to 
take  the  fish  out  and  strip  them. 

The  first  point  to  learn  about  this  is  how  to  handle 
the  fish.  There  are  almost  as  many  ways  of  handling 
them  as  there  are  persons  who  practise  it.  Almost 
every  one  has  a  way,  or  at  least  a  peculiarity,  of  his 
own. 

My  own  way  is  to  close  the  left  hand  very  gently 
over  the  face  of  the  fish,  and  with  the  right  grasp  it 
just  above  the  tail.  It  is  now  not  necessary  to 
squeeze  the  fish  hard  at  all.  She  cannot  get  through 
either  hand,  because  the  body  is  larger  in  the  middle 
than  at  either  extremity.  I  then  take  the  fish  quickly 
out  of  the  water,  throw  it  over  partly  on  its  side,  and 
holding  it  at  an  angle  of  about  45°,  with  the  orifice 
near  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  press  gently  but  firmly  with 
the  thumb  of  the  left  hand,  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
abdomen.  If  the  fish  is  ripe,  the  eggs  will  flow  at 
once,  and  then,  by  a  peculiar  bending  of  the  body  of 
the  fish,  together  with  a  slight  downward  movement 
of  the  thumb,  the  eggs  will  come  almost  of  their  own 
accord.  I  use  very  little  force  indeed  in  pressing  the 
eggs  out.  If  they  do  not  come  almost  spontaneously, 
with  this  method  of  handling,  I  let  the  fish  go  and  try 
another.  If  any  eggs  seem  to  be  left  in  the  fish  after 
the  stripping  just  mentioned,  I  quickly  change  hands, 
and,  grasping  it  firmly  with  the  right  hand,  remove  the 
remaining  eggs  by  a  gentle  pass  of  the  left  thumb 
along  the  length  of  the  abdomen. 


86  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

This  strips  the  fish  completely,  and  it  is  ready  to 
be  returned  to  the  water.  I  proceed  in  a -similar 
way  with  the  male,  except  that  I  exert  the  pressure 
lower  down  the  abdomen  than  with  the  female.  This 
method  of  handling  does  not  hurt  the  fish  ;  it  seems 
to  make  the  eggs  flow  spontaneously,  the  struggling 
of  the  fish  only  accelerates  the  flow  of  the  eggs,  it 
makes  quick  work  and  takes  all  the  eggs.  I  do  not 
claim  anything  for  it,  however,  over  other  good 
methods  of  handling,  and  would  advise  beginners  to 
try  different  ways,  till  they  find  the  particular  way 
most  convenient  for  them,  and  adopt  that. 

Holding  the  fish  is  at  first  an  awkward  affair.  It 
will  seem  to  you,  if  you  are  a  beginner,  as  if  fish  were 
never  so  slippery  nor  so  uneasy,  and  never  so  liable 
to  be  squeezed  to  death  before ;  but  practice  will  make 
perfect  in  this  as  in  other  things,  and  you  will  at 
length  feel  as  much  at  home  with  a  pound  trout  in 
your  hands  as  if  it  were  a  pet  kitten. 

I  would,  however,  by  all  means  kill  and  open  a 
trout  first,  and  see  just  how  the  vitals  lie  packed 
within,  so  as  to  know  just  where  you  can  press  without 
hurting  it,  and  just  where  you  cannot.  This  will  give 
you  confidence,  and  save  the  lives  of  many  fish. 

You  can  press  quite  hard  on  the  face  and  head,  and 
on  the  solid  parts  of  the  body,  but  be  very  careful  of 
the  gills  and  vitals.  Do  not  ever  press  the  abdomen 
very  hard.  If  the  eggs  do  not  come  with  a  light  pressure, 
let  them  go  till  next  time.  You  might  not  impregnate 
them  all,  if  you  took  them.  Do  not  press  the  female 
fish  at  all  near  the  organ  of  exit,  or  lower  part  of  the 


TAKING   THE    EGGS.  8/ 

abdomen,  except  to  push  out  the  few  remaining  eggs, 
after  the  main  part  of  the  stripping  is  done.  Let  all 
the  pressure  at  first  be  at  the  upper  end,  and  always 
let  the  thumb  follow  the  eggs,  and  never  get  in  ad- 
vance of  them.  Inflammation  of  the  organs  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  abdomen  is  often  produced  by  neg- 
lect of  this  precaution,  the  result  of  which  is  an  entire 
stoppage  of  eggs  and  ultimate  death  from  ulceration. 

When  the  fish  struggles,  as  you  are  taking  the 
spawn,  do  not  squeeze  it  any  harder  than  you  can 
help,  but  hold  your  left  thumb  firmly  on  the  abdomen, 
just  above  the  eggs,  and  the  struggles  of  the  fish  will 
only  help  the  flow  of  the  eggs.  Indeed,  I  usually  try  to 
make  the  fish  really  spawn  herself. 

You  must  keep  your  attention  fixed  incessantly  on 
the  fish  in  your  hands,  or  it  will  squirm  itself  out  of  your 
grasp  when  you  least  expect  it,  and  in  a  way  that  you 
cannot  account  for.  You  will  probably  drop  a  few  fish 
occasionally,  even  after  some  experience,  but  it  will  do 
no  harm  if  the  fish  does  not  fall  into  the  spawning 
dish.  This  you  must  guard  against,  as  a  few  lashes 
of  its  body  then  may  kill  a  great  many  eggs.  Be 
careful  also  not  to  let  the  trout  in  its  struggles  scrape 
the  slime  off  its  body ;  for  this,  especially  in  the  first 
part  of  the  season,  wilt  cause  fungus  to  grow,  and  the 
end  is  death. 

IMPREGNATING  THE  EGGS. 

All  fish  eggs  were  formerly  impregnated  in  water,  a 
depth  of  one  or  two  inches  in  the  spawning  pans  being 
generally  used.  This  was  the  universal  custom  in  this 


88  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

country  up  to  the  last  spawning  season,  that  of  1871, 
in  the  summer  of  which  year,  through  the  efforts  of 
Mr.  George  Shephard  Page,  the  experiments  of  M. 
Vrasski,  at  Nikolsk,  Russia,  were  made  known  in 
America.*  By  these  experiments  the  very  singular 
facts  were  discovered  that  fish  eggs  could  not  only  be 

*  "  In  his  experiments,  M.  Vrasski  had  followed  the  counsels 
given  in  French  and  German  works  on  pisciculture  ;  but  the 
results  obtained  were  far  from  being  brilliant.  In  reality  he 
obtained  at  each  hatching  but  an  insignificant  number.  '  From 
many  thousands  of  eggs/  said  he,  in  one  of  his  letters,  '  there 
were  only  some  dozens  of  young  fry.  The  rest  of  the  eggs  were 
spoilt  and  lost  for  want  of  having  been  impregnated.  I  have, 
however,  observed  with  scrupulous  exactness  all  the  directions 
given  by  the  manuals  with  a  view  to  fecundation.'  In  the 
autumn  of  1856,  M.  Vrasski  was  occupied  with  the  microscopic 
study  of  the  eggs  and  the  milt,  and  kept  a  journal  in  which  he 
registered  the  least  circumstances  and  incidents  relative  to  each 
fecundation  that  he  effected.  Two' months  of  persistent  efforts 
brought  the  desired  results.  The  journal  and  the  microscope 
proved  to  him  that  the  cause  of  his  failure  proceeded  precisely 
from  the  exact  observation  of  all  the  counsels  of  the  foreign 
manuals.  It  is  necessary  for  fecundation  that  the  spermatozoa 
of  the  milt  of  the  male  should  penetrate  the  eggs  of  the  female. 
In  order  to  do  this,  the  manuals  recommended  receiving  the 
eggs  in  a  vessel  of  water  ;  afterwards,  to  receive  in  another  ves- 
sel of  water  the  milt  of  the  male ;  and,  lastly,  to  turn  the  diluted 
milt  on  to  the  eggs.  By  his  journal,  kept  with  scrupulous  exact- 
ness, M.  Vrasski  convinced  himself  that  the  fecundation  was  so 
much  the  less  complete  according  as  the  mixture  of  the  milt 
and  the  eggs  had  been  the  most  delayed.  If  ten  minutes  elapsed 
between  obtaining  the  milt  and  the  mixing  of  it  with  the  eggs, 
the  fecundation  failed  almost  entirely.  His  observations  and  the 
microscopic  researches  of  the  eggs  and  the  milt  showed  that 
first,  when  received  in  water  at  the  instant  of  issuing  from  the 
fish,  the  eggs  absorb  the  water  and  preserve  the  power  of  being 


TAKING  THE   EGGS.  89 

taken  and  impregnated  safely  in  a  dry  vessel,  but  also 
that  the  whole  of  them  could  be  impregnated  in  this 
way.  Such  marvellous  success  had  never  been  reached 
before  by  any  method,  sixty-five  or  seventy  per  cent 
having  been  a  large  average  of  impregnation,  in  opera- 
tions in  this  country,  and  Seth  Green,  who  approxi- 

impregnated  only  as  long  as  this  absorption  is  riot  finished  ;  that 
is  to  say,  during  a  half-hour  at  the  utmost.  Once  saturated  with 
water,  the  eggs  do  not  absorb  any  spermatozoa ;  but  if  received 
into  dry  vessels  on  issuing  from  the  fish,  the  eggs  remain,  on 
the  contrary,  for  a  sufficient  time,  in  a  neutral  state,  and  do  not 
lose  the  power,  when  once  put  into  water,  of  receiving  the 
spermatozoa.  Second,  the  spermatozoa  of  the  milt,  in  falling 
into  the  water,  commence  immediately,  with  much  vigor  and 
rapidity,  to  make  movements,  which  only  last,  however,  for  a 
minute  and  a  half,  or  two  at  the  most ;  when  this  time  is  elapsed, 
only  in  some  few  spermatozoa  can  there  be  seen  particular  move- 
ments and  agonized  convulsions.  When,  at  the  issuing  from  the 
male  fish,  the  milt  is  received  in  a  dry  vessel,  it  does  not  change 
for  many  hours,  and  during  this  interval  the  spermatozoa  do  not 
lose  the  power  of  beginning  to  move  when  they  find  themselves 
in  contact  with  water.  Closed  in  a  dry  tube  and  well  corked, 
the  milt  preserved  its  impregnating  virtue  during  six  days. 

"  From  these  observations,  as  also  from  the  fact  that  the  eggs, 
as  well  as  the  milt,  are  obtained  slowly,  their  entire  mass  not 
being  able  to  issue  at  once,  M.  Vrasski  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  when  they  were  received  in  water  the  greater  part  of  the 
eggs  attempted  to  saturate  themselves  with  water,  and  the 
spermatozoa  almost  ceased  to  move  before  it  was  possible  for 
the  fish  breeder  to  mix  the  eggs  with  the  diluted  water.  M. 
Vrasski  adopted  then  the  system  of  dry  vessels,  and  turned  the 
milt  on  the  eggs  immediately  he  put  them  in  water.  The  success 
was  complete  ;  all  the  eggs  were  impregnated,  without  one 
exception."  —  "  The  Establishment  at  Nikolsk  for  the  Rearing  of 
Choice  Fish."  Review  in  New  York  Citizen  and  Round  Table, 
May  27,  1871. 


QO  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

mated  the  method  of  the  Russian  by  using  a  very  little 
water,  never  claiming  over  ninety-five  per  cent  for  his 
best  work.  The  result  is  that  dry  impregnation,  or  the 
method  of  taking  the  eggs  in  dry  vessels,  has  in  trout 
culture  wholly  superseded  the  old  practice  of  impreg- 
nating the  eggs  in  water,  among  all  who  have  heard 
of  it,  the  great  gain  in  impregnated  eggs  being  too 
much  of  an  advantage  to  be  sacrificed. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  to  whom  this  part  of  the 
subject  is  unfamiliar,  I  will  say  that  the  milt,  or 
seminal  fluid,  of  the  male  fish  consists  of  innumerable 
living  microscopic  organisms,  called  spermatozoa  or 
zoosperms.  These  millions  of  infinitesimal  creatures 
during  their  brief  career  in  the  outer  world  are  endowed 
with  great  activity,  and  jump  and  plunge  about  among 
one  another  with  a  motion  as  ceaseless  as  it  is  rapid 
and  vigorous.  They  appear  all  the  while  to  be  seeking 
something.  At  the  same  time,  the  eggs,  when  taken 
from  the  fish,  exert  a  constant  absorbing  power,  draw- 
ing towards  them  everything  in  their  immediate  vicinity. 
The  eggs  also  possess  on  their  surface  a  microscopic 
opening  called  the  micropyle,  which  is  intended  for 
the  entrance  of  the  "zoosperm.  When,  therefore,  the 
spermatozoa  and  the  eggs  are  brought  together,  the 
animalculae  seek  the  egg  with  all  their  might,  and  the 
egg  draws  them  to  itself  with  all  its  power.  The  con- 
sequence is  that  one  (or  more  ?)  of  the  spermatozoa 
finds  the  micropyle  of  the  egg  and  is  drawn  into  it, 
and  impregnation  is  the  result. 

When  the  egg  has  finished  its  absorbing  action, 
or  when  the  zoosperms  have  become  inert,  the  power 


TAKING   THE   EGGS.  QI 

to  give  or  receive  impregnation  is  at  an  end.  The 
time  for  it  has  passed.  No  human  power  can  after- 
wards make  milt  or  eggs  anything  but  worthless. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  the  absorbing  action  of 
the  trout  egg  lasts  thirty  minutes  in  water.  The  period 
of  the  activity  of  spermatozoa  in  water  has  been  vari- 
ously placed  at  thirty  minutes,  fifteen,  ten,  two,  and 
one  and  a  half  minutes  ;*  the  last  two  estimates  being 
nearest  the  truth.  As  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  M. 
Vrasski's  experiments,  this  period  of  activity  is  vastly 
prolonged  by  not  diluting  the  milt  with  water,  and  the 
chances  of  impregnating  all  the  eggs  are  immensely 
increased  in  consequence.  For,  according  to  the  old 
method  of  using  water,  either  the  spermatozoa  died  or 
the  eggs  finished  their  absorbing  process  before  there 
was  time  for  all  the  eggs  to  become  impregnated  j 
while  by  the  new  method  of  not  using  water  the  milt 
has  ample  time  to  come  in  contact  with  all  the  eggs, 
during  the  period  of  the  activity  of  the  one  and  the 

*  The  confusion  on  this  point  very  probably  arises  from  the 
experiments  being  conducted  in  different  temperatures  of  water, 
the  period  of  life  of  the  zoosperms  depending  materially  on  the 
temperature  of  the  water.  The  zoosperms  of  trout  milt  do  not 
usually  live  over  two  minutes  in  water  varying  from  40°  to 
50°  F. 

Quatrefages's  experiments  showed  that  the  activity  of  the  sper- 
matozoa of  different  fish  diluted  with  water  lasted  ii»the  case  of 
the 

Brochet      ...  8  minutes,  10  seconds. 

Mullet  r  .  .3       "         10 

Carp  3        « 

Perch  .  .  .  .      2        "         40       " 

Barbel  2        "         10       " 


DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


absorbing  action  of  the  other.*     The  consequent  ad- 
vantage is  obvious. 

This  discovery  being  of  great  practical  importance, 
perhaps  I  may  be  excused  for  quoting  at  length  from 
my  editorial  on  the  subject  in  the  New  York  Citizen 
and  Round  Table  of  March  9,  1872. 

THE    RUSSIAN    OR   DRY    METHOD    OF    IMPREGNATION. 

"  The  most  important  discovery  of  the  past  year  in 
fish-breeding  in  this  country  was  the  method  of  the 
dry  impregnation  of  the  eggs  of  winter-spawning  fish. 

"  Its  importance  consists  in  this,  namely,  that  almost 
one  hundred  per  cent  of  the  eggs  can  be  fertilized 
and  hatched  in  this  way,  while  hitherto,  with  the  one 
exceptional  instance  of  our  great  prophet,  Seth  Green, 

*  The  following  table  shows  the  percentage  of  Salmon  eggs 
impregnated  by  the  dry  method  at  the  Maine  State  Salmon- 
Breeding  Establishment,  in  1871,  under  the  charge  of  Commis- 
sioner Charles  G.  Atkins,  of  Maine. 


When  taken. 

Estimated  no.  of  eggs. 

Percentage  fecundated. 

Nov.  2 

12,500 

IOO 

"    3 

II,5OO 

94 

6 

9,500 

92,1 

6 

3,000 

85 

4 

300 

— 

4 

2,500 

95 

4 

16,000 

96 

H 

5,000 

IOO 

8 

4,500 

IOO 

9 

7,000 

97* 

10 

85 

IOO 

'    IO 

50 

IOO 

'    10 

365 

IOO 

72,300 

96 

TAKING   THE   EGGS.  93 

the  percentage  has  ranged  all  the  way  from  ninety 
and  eighty  to  fifteen,  and  has  probably  not  averaged 
throughout  the  country  over  fifty  or  sixty  per  cent.* 
The  gain,  of  course,  is  enormous,  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  following  table  :  — 

The  average  yield  of  By  the  old  method.  By  the  new  method. 

1,000  eggs  is  600  950 

10,000  eggs  is  6,000  9,500 

100,000  eggs  is  60,000  95,000 

1,000,000  eggs  is  600,000  950,000 

"  When  to  this  is  added  the  consideration  that  all 
the  worthless  eggs  must  be  picked  out  one  by  one,  by 
hand,  in  the  coldest  season  of  the  year,  and  that  to 
pick  out  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  eggs  (the 
difference  in  each  million  between  the  two  methods) 
requires,  in  practice,  at  least  thirty-five  days  of  inces- 
sant and  tedious  labor,  the  immense  advantage  and 
importance  of  the  new  discovery  becomes  obvious. 

"  It  will  mark  a  new  era,  we  are  confident,  in  trout 
and  salmon  breeding,  and  will  entirely  revolutionize 
the  system  of  impregnating  the  eggs  of  these  fish.  No 
one,' hereafter,  who  has  heard  of  the  new  method,  will 
ever  take  the  eggs  of  any  cold-water  fish  by  the  old 
one.  It  is  a  very  significant  circumstance  that  Seth 
Green,  with  his  wonderful  insight,  reached  the  same 
result  nearly  ten  years  ago  by  using  a  very  small 
amount  of  water  in  the  impregnating  pan. 

*  There  is  not  the  same  difference  in  impregnating  the  eggs 
of  warm-water  fish.  Perch  and  shad,  for  instance,  will  yield 
nearly  one  hundred  per  cent  good  eggs  taken  in  a  pan  full  of 
water,  the  natural  temperature  of  which,  when  these  fish  spawn, 
runs  from  a  minimum  of  50°  F.  with  the  perch  to  a  maximum  of 
90°,  and  even  more,  with  the  shad. 


94  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

"  This  was  the  mysterious  secret  of  his  success  in 
impregnating  trout  eggs,  which  puzzled  beyond  measure 
everybody  that  tried  to  imitate  him,  which  every  one 
marvelled  at,  and  no  one  could  understand.  Green 
used  to  tell  everything  about  trout  breeding  except 
this,  but  this  he  kept  to  himself,  and  said  it  was  as 
good  as  a  patent  right  to  him  ;  and  so  it  was. 

"The  Russian  or  dry  method  of  impregnating  eggs 
consists  simply  in  taking  both  the  eggs  and  the  milt 
in  a  dry  pan.  The  pan  will  not,  correctly  speaking, 
be  perfectly  dry,  for  some  drops  of  water  will  fall  into 
it  from  the  fishes  manipulated  ;  but  the  pan  should 
have  no  water  in  it  to  begin  with.  In  reflecting  upon 
this  method  for  the  first  time,  the  objection  rises 
instantly  in  one's  mind  that  the  eggs  will  all  be  killed 
by  striking  against  the  bottom  of  the  dry  pan  ;  but  it 
is  the  very  singular  fact  that  though  the  same  eggs 
would  be  destroyed  at  once  by  the  same  concussion 
a  week  afterwards,  or  even  twenty-four  hours  after- 
wards, they  do  not  suffer  in  the  least  from  it  at  the 
moment  of  extrusion  from  the  fish.  These  and  the  pre- 
vious facts  here  stated  were  confirmed  this  last  season 
by  experiments  of  Commissioner  Atkins  of  Maine,  of 
Mr.  W.  Clift  of  Connecticut,  and  of  the  writer  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  are  beyond  dispute. 

"  At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Fish  Culturists'  Associa- 
tion, at  Albany,  we  opened  a  box  of  about  a  hundred 
trout  eggs,  taken  by  us  on  the  Russian  plan  last 
December,  and  gathered  afterwards  from  the  hatching 
troughs  without  our  knowledge  of  the  percentage  of 
impregnation.  Seth  Green  and  others  examined  them, 


TAKING   THE   EGGS.  95 

and  only  three  were  found  empty.  As  less  than  two 
per  cent  had  been  picked  out  previously  from  the 
troughs,  this  leaves  ninety-five  per  cent  of  good  eggs. 

"  The  explanation  of  the  augmented  impregnation 
seems  to  lie  in  the  following  facts :  — 

u  The  spermatozoa  of  the  milt  of  the  male  are  found 
naturally  living  in  an  alkaline  fluid  composed  partly 
of  phosphates  and  partly  of  other  constituents  which 
more  scientific  men  know  better  than  we  do.  This  is 
their  natural  element,  and,  if  it  is  not  changed,  they 
will  live  in  it  for  several  days  after  leaving  the  fish.  On 
the  contrary,  if  this  liquid  is  diluted  with  water,  as  is 
the  case  in  the  old  way  of  impregnating,  the  sperma- 
tozoa are  killed  ;  they  cannot  live  in  the  new  element. 
Paradoxical  as  it  seems,  water  drowns  them. 

"  M.  Vrasski  says  that  he  kept  the  spermatozoa 
alive  six  days  in  a  corked-up  phial  just  as  they  came 
from  the  fish,  but  that  they  died  in  two  minutes  when 
taken  from  the  fish  into  water. 

"  With  a  view  to  testing  these  points,  we  tried  some 
experiments  with  the  milt  of  trout  last  fall,  using  a 
microscope  that  magnified  a  hundred  diameters.  The 
results  were  the  same. 

"  Milt  taken  from  the  fish  in  a  phial  and  secluded 
from  the  air  and  water  remained  unchanged  for  days. 
Carbolic  acid  killed  the  zoosperms  almost  immediately, 
and  water  drowned  them  in  two  minutes. 

"  The  explanation,  therefore,  of  the  improved  results 
of  the  Russian  method,  is  plainly  seen.  The  zoosperms 
reach  the  eggs  in  their  natural  element,  and  have  time 
and  vitality  to  impregnate  them,  while  they  are  at  the 


96  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

same  time  in  vastly  greater  numbers  to  the  cubic  line 
than  in  the  pan  of  water. 

"The  dry  method  of  taking  eggs  was  first  discovered 
by  M.  Vrasski,  a  Russian,  from  whom  it  is  called  the 
Russian  method.  He  experimented  with  the  eggs 
of  sterlits,  we  believe,  at  Nikolsk,  Russia,  and  by 
careful  and  scrupulous  observation  with  microscope 
and  note-book  solved  in  two  months  the  mystery  of 
the  previous  meagre  impregnations,  and  made  this 
most  important  discovery  of  which  we  are  speaking. 

"  It  is  very  singular  that  sixteen  years  should  have 
elapsed  before  the  knowledge  of  this  remarkable 
discovery  should  have  reached  America.  But  sixteen 
years  did  pass,  and  many  more  might  have  passed 
had  it  not  been  for  the  enterprise  of  Mr.  George  Shep- 
hard  Page,  President  of  the  Oquossoc  Angling  Associa- 
tion, who  had  the  experiments  of  M.  Vrasski  translated 
into  English,  and  who  caused  a  review  of  his  work  to 
be  printed  in  the  New  York  Citizen  of  May  27,  1871, 
which  we  would  recommend  all  practical  fish  culturists 
to  read. 

"  To  Mr.  Page,  therefore,  belongs  the  honor  of  intro- 
ducing into  this  country  this  discovery,  second  to  none, 
in  practical  importance,  that  has  been  made  in  the  art 
since  its  inception,  and  to  the  New  York  Citizen  the 
credit  of  first  making  it  public.  We  were  very  much 
surprised  that  the  announcement  in  the  Citizen  did 
not  make  a  deeper  impression  at  the  time  than  it  did. 
Mr.  Page  was  kind  enough  to  send  us  a  marked  copy 
of  the  paper,  and  we  wrote  to  him  in  reply  that  the 
statement  of  M.  Vrasski,  if  true,  would  wholly  revolu- 


TAKING   THE    EGGS.  97 

tionize  the  present  method  of  impregnating  eggs ;'  but 
no  one  with  whom  we  corresponded  seemed  to  realize 
its  importance,  except  Mr.  Clift,  President  of-  the 
American  Fish  Culturists'  Association,  who  wrote  to 
us  in  very  much  the  same  terms  that  we  used  to  Mr. 
Page.  It  was  also  by  his  recommendation,  we  pre- 
sume, that  Mr.  Atkins  adopted  this  method  in  taking 
his  salmon  eggs  last  fall.  We  are  satisfied,  however, 
that  the  results  of  the  investigations  of  M.  Vrasski 
are  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  that  the  facts 
cannot  make  too  deep  an  impression  on  fish  breeders. 
We  would  advise  them  never  to  try  the  old  plan  again." 

There  are  several  interesting  consequences  result- 
ing from  the  Russian  discovery  which  seem  to  be 
worth  mentioning. 

One  is  that  since  the  spermatozoa  of  the  milt  remain 
alive  several  days  when  kept  from  the  air  and  water, 
a  cross  can  be  effected  between  fish  living  at  long  dis- 
tances apart,  without  transporting  the  fish.  For  in- 
stance, a  trout  breeder  in  Kansas  can  bottle  up  some 
milt  from  his  fish  in  a  homoeopathic  phial,  and  send  it 
by  mail  or  express  to  a  Massachusetts  breeder,  who 
can  take  a  ripe  spawner  from  his  ponds  and  mix  the 
Kansas  milt  and  Massachusetts  eggs  in  the  impreg- 
nating pan,  and  so  generate  a  cross  between  the  two 
fish,  as  well  as  if  the  Kansas  breeder  had  sent  him,  at 
a  great  risk,  some  male  trout.  The  great  ease  with 
which  this  crossing  can  be  accomplished  may  some 
day  lead  to  valuable  results. 

Another  consequence  is  that  the  old  theory  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  eggs  ordinarily  taken  from  the 
5  G 


98  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

spawning  trout  are  immature,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  impregnated,  must  be  given  up.  I  have  opposed 
this  theory  all  through  my  trout-breeding  experience, 
and  insisted  that  the  trouble  in  poor  impregnations 
was  not  in  the  eggs,  but  in  the  milt,  as  it  has  now 
turned  out  to  be.  But  the  immature-egg  theory  had 
its  advocates  in  high  quarters,  and  has  been  very  gen- 
erally received.  There,  however,  can  be  no  question 
about  it  hereafter.  If  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  eggs 
are  impregnated  and  hatched  by  the  Russian  method, 
then  not  more  than  five  per  cent  of  the  eggs  are 
immature,  and  we  doubt  if  even  this  small  proportion 
are. 

The  Russian  discovery  also  wholly  sets  aside  the 
question  about  which  there  has  been  such  contradic- 
tory opinions,  as  to  whether  the  milt  or  the  eggs  should 
be  taken  first.  Under  the  old  regime  it  was  considered 
an  important  matter,  and  so  it  was ;  but  now  it  makes 
no  difference  which  is  used  first,  as,  either  way,  both 
the  milt  and  the  eggs  will  remain  operative  long 
enough  for  all  practical  purposes  of  impregnation,  and 
in  both  cases  the  results  will  be  the  same. 

In  consequence  of  the  discovery  that  all  mature  eggs 
are  impregnated  by  coming  in  contact  with  ripe  milt, 
the  fish,  both  male  and  female,  being  taken  at  random, 
we  are  compelled  to  admit,  however  unwillingly,  that 
the  origin  of  fish  life,  in  artificial  impregnation  at  least, 
is  wholly  a  mechanical  affair.  .  The  mere  mechanical 
mixing  of  the  ripe  milt  of  any  male  and  the  ripe  eggs 
of  any  female  creates  the  germ  of  life,  and  perpetuates 
the  race,  all  previous  considerations  of  pairing  off 


TAKTNG   THE    EGGS.  99 

among  the  fish,  or  of  this  or  that  one  selecting  its  mate, 
counting  for  nothing.  The  fish  of  either  sex  has  no 
choice  and  no  knowledge  as  to  the  individual  through 
whom  its  progeny  shall  be  generated.  The  female 
fish  may  become  a  mother  without  ever  having  seen 
her  mate,  and  the  male  may  become  the  father  of  in- 
numerable offspring  without  ever  having  seen  the 
mother.  Whatever  margin  of  uncertainty  the  unim- 
pregnated  eggs  of  the  old  system  might  have  afforded 
for  the  conjecture  that  empty  eggs  were  the  conse- 
quence of  mismating  on  the  part  of  the  fish,  or  rather 
of  the  manipulator,  there  is  none  left  now.  Mechani- 
cal contact  of  eggs  and  milt,  indiscriminately  taken, 
produces  all  the  results  that  mutual  affection  and 
choice  of  mates  could  accomplish.  There  is  now  no 
possible  place  left  for  sentiment  in  the  connubial  rela- 
tions of  trout  that  are  artificially  spawned. 

There  are  also  two  practical  advantages  incidentally 
connected  with  this  Russian  discovery,  and  with  these 
I  will  close  this  discussion  of  its  consequences.  One 
of  these  advantages  is  that  the  operator  need  not  feel 
obliged  to  hurry  through  the  impregnation  process,  as 
he  was  formerly  obliged  to,  lest  the  milt  should  become 
worthless  before  the  eggs  were  secured,  or  vice  versa, 
for  by  the  dry  method  he  can  have  time  enough.  And 
the  other  is,  that  when  there  is  danger  that  the  milt 
will  run  short  on  any  day,  the  surplus  milt  of  previous 
more  favorable  days  can  be  bottled  up  and  kept  for 
the  emergency,  when  the  day's  supply  of  milt  proves 
insufficient. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  subject  more  particularly 


TOO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

before  us,  namely,  the  modus  operandi  of  impregnating 
the  eggs.  The  process  is  very  simple.  Having  se- 
cured the  fish  and  sorted  out  the  ripe  males  and  the  ripe 
females*  take  a  female  and  express  the  eggs  from  her 
into  a  dry  pan,  according  to  the  directions  on  page  85. 
One  layer  is  about  enough  for  a  pan.  Then  take  the 
milt  from  the  male.  Shake  the  pan  gently  and  tilt  it 
at  each  end  alternately,  so  as  to  mix  the  milt  and  eggs 
as  thoroughly  as  possible.  This  will  be  easily  accom- 
plished, as  the  little  water  which  falls  from  the  fish  into 
the  pan,  and  the  capillary  attraction  of  the  mass  of 
eggs,  will  assist  the  dissemination  of  the  milt. 

After  giving  the  spermatozoa  and  eggs  time  enough 
for  thorough  contact,  but  before  the  eggs  set,  pour  on 
water  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  or  two.  Stir  well  and 
leave  till  the  eggs  separate,  which  will  be  from  fifteen 
to  forty-five  minutes,  according  to  the  temperature  of 
the  water,  the  eggs  remaining  set  longest  in  cold 
water.  When  separated,  rinse  the  eggs  till  they  are 
perfectly  clean.  They  are  then  ready  to  be  placed  in 
the  hatching  troughs. 

How  TO  TELL  RIPE  FISH. 

It  is  usually  a  very  anxious  question  with  beginners, 
how  they  will  know  when  a  spawning  trout  is  ripe.  I 
would  advise  those  who  feei  this  anxiety  not  to  worry 
about  it  at  all. 

You  cannot  tell,  the  first  time  you  try  your  hand  at 
it ;  but  follow  the  directions  about  trying  them,  and 
whenever  the  spawn  does  not  flow  easily,  let  the  fish 
go,  and  try  another.  Do  not  urge  the  spawn  too  for- 


TAKING   THE    EGGS.  ICI 


cibly.  This  is  the  great  fault:  of  &Gg:nners.  ,uTh*ty  are 
so  afraid  that  the  fish  is  jipe,  and"  that  they  will  not 
find  it  out,  that  they  often  ki]),i^,  iftijnrip^;feyjtis^i?^x- 
cessive  force.  Let  me  say  that  your  danger,  if  you  are 
inexperienced,  is  not  half  so  much  of  losing  the  spawn 
as  of  killing  the  fish.  I  knew  of  a  man  who  had  thirty 
trout,  and  who  killed  them  all  before  the  spawning  sea- 
son began,  without  getting  an  egg,  by  trying  to  force 
the  eggs.  When  the  fish  is  r'pe,  the  eggs  will  come  : 
that  you  may  depend  on,  in  nineteen  cases  out  of 
twenty.  If  they  do  not  come  and  come  easily  in  any 
instance,  do  not  trouble  yourself  about  that  fish  ;  let 
her  go.  You  will  get  her  the  next  day  again,  if  she  is 
not  quite  but  nearly  ripe.  If  you  have  any  doubt  at 
all  whether  the  fish  is  ripe,  give  the  fish  the  benefit  of 
the  doubt.  In  time  you  will  learn  to  tell  at  a  glance, 
and  patience  and  practice  will  soon  bring  that  time  to 
pass.  To  tell  quickly  and  surely  whether  a  fish  is  ripe, 
is  something  that  cannot  be  learned  from  books. 

There  are  certain  signs,  it  is  true,  which  usually  ac- 
company ripeness  in  a  female  trout,  of  which  the  loose- 
ness of  the  eggs  in  the  abdomen,  after  they  have  left 
the  ovaries,  is  the  surest.  There  are  others  also,  but 
the  specific  signs  are  all  fallible,  and  what  an  expert 
tells  by,  is  not  one  specified  sign  or  another,  but  an  in- 
describable ripe  look,  which  is  neither  color,  shape, 
nor  condition  of  organs,  but  a  something  pervading 
the  whole,  a  tout  ensemble,  which  tells  at  a  glance  that 
the  fish  is  ripe,  as  in  a  similar  way  you  tell  that  a 
peach  or  a  blackberry  is  ripe.  This  you  must  learn 
by  practice.  Books  cannot  teach  it,  but  practice  will. 


IO2  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


FURTHER  DIRECTIONS  FOR  IMPREGNATING  THE  EGGS. 

5flx:  foftoWifeg*  ad optional suggestions  may  be  of  ser- 
vice to  the  beginner  in  learning  to  impregnate  trout 
eggs. 

1.  Use  eggs  that  flow  easily,  and  no  others.     It  is  true 
that  there  will  be  some  spavvners  which,  from  an  ex- 
ceptional construction  of  organs,  will  not  give  their 
spawn  readily  when  ripe  ;  but  in  nineteen  cases  out  of 
twenty,  when  the  eggs  come  hard  they  are  immature ; 
and  the  best  rule  to  observe,  at  least  in  beginning,  is  to 
take  only  the  eggs  which  come  easily.    Avoid  all  others. 
If  the  first  half  come  easily  and  the  balance  less  so, 
take  the  first    half    and    leave  the  rest.     When    you 
perceive  the  eggs  lying  in  rows  under  the  skin,  do  not 
try  the  fish  at  all.     The  ovaries  are  not  open,  and  she 
is  certainly  not  ripe. 

2.  Do  not  use  too  cold  water.     The  eggs  begin  to 
stick  quicker,  and  remained  stuck  longer,  in  very  cold 
water  than  in  warmer  water.     The  zoosperms  of  the 
milt  also    are    less   active  and  effective  in  very  cold 
water.*     At  all  events,  my  experience  has  been  that 
very  cold  water  is  unfavorable  to  impregnation.     In 
October  the  water  in  the  brooks  will  do  very  well,  but 
later,  in  November  and  December,  it  gets  too  cold, 
and    the   necessary   exposure    to   the    cold   air   while 

*  M.  de  Quatrefages  says  that  the  spermatozoa  of  trout  milt 
live  the  longest  at  a  temperature  between  41°  and  48°  Fahrenheit ; 
but  that  when  the  temperature  exceeds  these  limits,  the  increase 
of  the  energy  on  the  part  of  the  animalcules  compensates  to  a 
certain  extent  for  the  shorter  duration  of  their  vitality. 


TAKING   THE   EGGS.  IO3 

spawning  makes  matters  still  worse.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  season,  the  water  for  the  spawning  pans 
should  be  taken  from  the  spring,  and,  if  necessary, 
kept  at  the  spring  temperature  by  artificial  heat. 

3.  Make  quick  work  in  impregnating  the  eggs.     Have 
everything  ready  beforehand,  so  as  not  to  lose  a  mo- 
ment's time  after  the  fish  are  in  the  tub.     Do  not  be 
ovei   two  minutes  with  any  one  pan,  and  take  but  one 
layer  of  eggs  to  a  pan.     By  these  precautions  you  will 
secure  absorbing  eggs  and  active  zoosperms  and  a 
good    intermingling  of  both,   even  at   the    minimum 
estimate  of  the  period  of  their   effectiveness.      You 
will  also  thus  avoid  the  reabsorption   of  milt  by  the 
males,  which  will  sometimes  happen  when  they  are 
disturbed.* 

4.  Stir  the  water  well  in  the  pans  when  first  poured 
in,  but  not  afterwards.    This  precaution  is,  of  course, 
to  effect  a  thorough  distribution  of  the  spermatozoa 
through  the  water,  to  act  upon  the  eggs.     After  the 
eggs  begin  to  adhere,  leave  them  perfectly  quiet  till 
they  separate    spontaneously.      I  have  heard  it  said 
that  the  water  should  be  stirred  during  the  whole  time 
of  the  adhering  of  the  eggs,  but  this  is  a  mistake. 

5.  Allow  the  eggs  ample  time  to  separate.     It  will 
do  no  harm  if  you  leave  the  eggs  an  hour  in  the  pan 
with  the  milt,  but  it  will  do  harm  to  move  them  too 
soon.     Some  authorities  say  that  thirty  minutes  is  long 

*  Males  having  good  and  ready-flowing  milt  sometimes,  when 
frightened,  seem  to  reabsorb  it  into  the  glands,  so  that  it  cannot 
be  pressed  out  naturally.  By  immersing  the  fish  in  warm  water, 
however,  say  at  70°  Fahrenheit,  the  glands  will  be  relaxed  so  that 
the  milt  will  flow  copiously  again. 


IO4  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

enough  to  leave  them,  some  say  twenty  minutes,  and 
one  late  authority  says  one  minute.  I  should  rather 
leave  them  together  forty-five  minutes  than  less.  It 
depends,  however,  very  much  on  the  temperature  of 
the  water,  the  adhesive  period  lengthening  as  the 
temperature  decreases.  You  are  more  likely  to-  err 
on  the  safe  side  by  keeping  them  too  long  together, 
than  by  not  keeping  them  long  enough. 

6.  Rinse  thoroughly.      The    eggs    should   be  thor- 
oughly rinsed  before  removal  to  the  hatching  boxes, 
for  the  effete  milt  clinging  to  them  eventually  putrefies 
and   kills   the   eggs   if  left   on   them.     They  should 
therefore  ^e  rinsed  till  the  water  in  the  pan  is  per- 
fectly clear.     Some    authorities  recommend   washing 
the  eggs  when  first  taken  from  the  fish,  to  get  rid  of 
the   mucus  enveloping  them,  which  is  thought  unfa- 
vorable to  impregnation.     There  is  no  sort  of  sense 
in  this. 

7.  Practise  to  acquire  dexterity  in  handling  the  fish. 
Time  is  so  valuable  in  impregnating  eggs,  that  it  is 
worth   while   to  practise,  as  in  any  accomplishment, 
for  dexterity.   Dexterity,  when  acquired,  saves  time  at 
the  very  moment  when  time  is  the  most  precious,  and 
often  secures  the  impregnation  of  eggs  which  would 
otherwise  be  lost.     The  difference  between  a  skilled 
expert  and  a  novice  in  this  respect  is   astonishing. 
The  former  will  run  through  a  large  lot  of  fish,  and 
spawn  them   all  properly  in  a  time  that  would  seem 
incredibly  short  to  a  bungler,  who  would  very  likely 
consume  half  a  day  on  the  same  number.    The  results, 
also,  of  his  manipulations,  will  present  an  equal  con- 


TAKING  THE   EGGS.  IO5 

trast  in  the  impregnation  of  the  eggs.     Acquire,  there- 
fore, as  much  dexterity  as  you  can  in  handling  the  fish. 

CLOSING  NOTES. 

The  spawning  season  for  brook  trout  in  New  Eng- 
land begins  the  first  or  second  week  of  October.  It 
i ;  earlier  north  of  New  England,  and  later  south  of  it. 
The  length  of  the  spawning  period  depends  on  the 
equability  of  the  temperature  of  the  water.  In  ordi- 
nary brooks,  where  the  temperature  of  the  water  varies 
with  the  temperature  of  the  air,  the  spawning  is  over 
by  the  middle  of  December,  and  often  before*  In 
spring  water,  when  the  temperature  is  not  affected  by 
the  air,  the  trout  sometimes  continue  to  spawn  all 
winter.  In  Seth  Green's  ponds,  the  trout  begin  to 
spawn  the  i2th  of  October,  and  continue  spawning 
till  the  ist  of  March.  At  the  Cold  Spring  Trout 
Ponds,  they  begin  the  same  day,  the  i2th  of  October, 
and  finish  the  first  week  in  December. 

All  two-year-old  trout  spawn.  Some  yearlings  do, 
and  some  do  not.  The  main  dependence  of  the 
trout  breeder  for  eggs  is  on  trout  upwards  of  two  years 
old.  The  eggs  of  the  trout  are  large  compared  with 

*  I  think  it  must  be  now  admitted,  in  view  of  so  much  evi- 
dence, that  individual  members  of  the  Salmo  family  spawn  in 
the  spring.  How  much  is  the  rule  and  how  much  the  excep- 
tion we  do  not  know.  The  Danube  Salmon  (Salmo  hucho]  all 
do.  See  Artificial  Fish  Breeding,  Fry,  p.  52.  There  is  also  a 
variety  of  salmon  in  the  St.  John  River,  N.  B  ,  that  come  up  regu- 
larly to  spawn  in  the  spring.  The  same  is  reported  of  the  Brit- 
ish rivers  Wye  and  Severn.  See  River  Fisheries,  "  Land  and 
Water,"  April  29  and  May  20,  1871. 
5* 


IO6  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

those  of  most  fish,  except  the  salmon.  They  average 
about  three  sixteenths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  varying 
very  considerably  in  size,  the  very  largest  containing 
probably  twice  the  bulk  of  the  very  smallest.  They 
are  sometimes  colorless,  sometimes  orange-hued,  and 
sometimes  have  a  rich  red  tint. 

The  cause -of  the  variation  in  the  color  of  the  eggs 
is  not  positively  known.  It  has  been  thought  to  be 
hereditary.*  It  has  also  been  attributed  to  the  color 
of  the  flesh  of  its  parent,  and  to  the  nature  of  the  par- 
ent's food.t 

A  correspondent  of  Mr.  Buckland  says  that  the 
tints  cannot  depend  on  the  color  of  the  parent's  flesh, 
because  graylings'  eggs  have  similar  tints,  and  all  gray- 
lings are  white-fleshed. 

The  outer  membrane  of  the  egg  is  very  elastic  and 
tough.  The  internal  structure  of  the  egg  is  as  follows. 
On  the  outside  is  the  shell  membrane,  corresponding 
to  the  hard  shell  of  birds'  eggs.  Inside  of  this  shell, 
which  is  formed,  as  with  birds'  eggs,  at  quite  a  late 
period  of  the  development  of  the  egg  in  the  ovary, 
is  another  membrane  called  the  yolk  membrane.  This 
is  very  different  from  the  shell  membrane,  and  is  quite 
delicate.  This  yolk  envelope  contains  the  yolk  of 
the  egg,  in  which  are  several  drops  of  oil,  which  form 
the  food  that  the  young  alevin  absorbs  in  the  yolk-sac 
stage.  In  the  yolk  also  floats  the  germinal  vesicle, 
which  is  a  small  cell,  and  which  contains  another  set 
of  minute  cells  called  the  germinative  spots  or  points. 

*  Massachusetts  Fisheries,  Report,  1868,  p.  31. 
t  Fish  Hatching,  Buckland,  pp.  19,  20. 


TAKING   THE   EGGS. 


Here  lies  the  germ  of  the  egg,  and  the  microscopic 
opening  called  the  micropyle,  through  which  the 
spermatozoa  enter  in  the  process  of  impregnation. 

When  the  egg  dies,  the  membranes  let  in  water, 
which  precipitates  the  contents  of  the  egg  in  the  form 
of  a  soft,  opaque,  white  paste.  It  is  this  which  gives 
the  white  appearance  to  the  dead  eggs. 

The  number  of  eggs  to  a  fish  is  given  as  one  thou- 
sand to  the  pound,  but  it  is  often  more  than  this,  and 
varies  very  much  with  the  size  of  the  eggs,  those  hav- 
ing small  eggs  yielding  the  most  in  number.  I  have 
taken  eighteen  hundred  eggs  from  a  pound  trout,  and 
once  took  over  sixty  eggs  from  a  trout  that  weighed 
just  half  an  ounce  immediately  after  being  stripped. 

THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  WEATHER  UPON  THE  SPAWNING 
OF  TROUT  ON  DIFFERENT  DAYS. 

Trout  seem  to  feel  the  changes  of  weather  quite  as 
much  as  the  air-breathing  animals  above  water.  In- 
deed, I  have  a  theory  that  the  various  conditions  of 
the  atmosphere,  which  we  describe  by  the  words  "raw," 
"  chilly,"  "  disagreeable,"  "  pleasant,"  "  agreeable," 
"  delicious,"  are  also  shared  by  the  water,  —  certainly 
the  various  electrical  states  of  the  atmosphere  are,  — 
and  that  the  fish  in  the  water  feel  the  difference  as  we 
do.  None  know  better  than  old  anglers  how  much  the 
weather  affects  the  feelings  of  the  fish  under  water,  and 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  most  of  them  hold  very 
much  the  same  theory.  It'  is  at  all  events  true,  that  in 
the  spawning  season  the  trout  are  very  much  influenced 
in  their  spawning  by  the  character  of  the  day. 


IO8  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

An  experienced  breeder  can  tell  in  the  morning,  by 
the  wind,  the  sky,  and  the  state  of  the  air,  how  his 
trout  are  going  to  spawn  that  day.  Indeed,  a  person 
sensitive  to  the  changes  in  the  weather  can  tell  by 
his  feelings,  with  his  eyes  shut,  whether  it  is  going  to 
be  a  good  day  for  spawning.  A  warm  rain  is  the 
most  favorable  condition  for  spawning.  A  sharp, 
frosty  night,  followed  by  a  warm,  bright,  sunny  after- 
noon, is  the  next  best.*  A  warm  rain,  particularly, 
brings  up  the  fish  upon  the  beds  in  swarms. 

This  is  partly  owing  to  the  increased  volume  of  the 
water,  for  a  freshet  always  calls  out  the  instinct  in 
trout  and  salmon  to  rush  up  to  higher  waters ;  but 
it  is  not  wholly  this,  for  the  action  of  the  pattering 
rain  on  the  water  hastens  irresistibly  their  time  of 
parturition,  and  they  would  spawn  more  in  a  warm 
rain,  if  the  volume  of  water  were  not  increased  any. 
On  these  favorable  days  it  is  noticeable  that  the  milt 
of  the  males  is  also  much  better  ripened,  as  well  as 
the  eggs  of  the  female. 

A  raw,  chilly  November  day,  when  the  air  feels  disa- 
greeable, is  the  worst  kind  of  weather  for  spawning,  and 
in  some  of  these  days  they  will  hardly  come  up  at  all. 

An  increased  current  and  volume  of  water  have  an 
effect  upon  the  spawning  fish  similar  to  a  rain,  per- 
haps from  the  same  cause,  namely,  increase  of  friction 
in  the  water. 

*  Francis,  I  think,  says  that  a  cloudy  clay  is  best  for  spawning. 
My  experience  has  been  entirely  to  the  contrary,  unless  it  rained. 
The  explanation  may  possibly  be  that  he  saw  them  best  on  a 
cloudy  day,  as  they  are  less  shy  on  such  days. 


TAKING   THE   EGGS.  IOQ 

At  any  rate,  the  trout  come  up  better  when  the 
stream  rises.  This  instinct  the  breeder  can  often  turn 
to  his  own  convenience.  For  instance,  if  he  must  be 
absent  a  day,  he  can  keep  the  spawners  back  by  turning 
off  the  water  as  far  as  is  safe  ;  or  if  he  wants  to  hasten 
the  spawning  on  any  particular  day,  he  can  do  so 
by  turning  on  a  powerful  current. 

The  afternoon  especially,  whether  rainy  or  sunny,  I 
have  always  found  to  be  the  best  part  of  the  day  for 
taking  spawn. 

To  insure  ripe  eggs,  I  think  once  a  day  is  quite 
often  enough  to  manipulate  the  fish. 

SPAWNING  IN  THE  POND. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  the  daily  disturbing 
of  the  trout  on  their  nests  will  often,  and  I  think 
usually,  drive  them  farther  down  stream,  and  induce 
them  to  spawn  in  the  pond.  This  of  course  results  in 
the  loss  of  the  eggs,  and  must  not  be  allowed.  The  best 
way  to  discourage  it  is,  to  throw  in  a  shovelful  of  mud  or 
earth,  wherever  you  discover  them  making  their  nests. 

At  my  own  ponds  I  have  two  sets  of  spawning 
races,  one  below  the  other.  I  use  the  upper  one 
only,  to  begin  with,  and  when  the  trout  abandon  this, 
on  account  of  being  disturbed,  they  fall  back  to  the 
second  raceway,  where  they  can  generally  be  kept 
till  the  season  is  over. 

THE  SPAWNING  PANS. 

The  dishes  for  stripping  spawn  into  are  usually 
rectangular  pans,  or  common  milk-pans,  with  a 


HO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

rectangular  depression  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch  or  so 
in  the  bottom.  The  object  of  this  rectangular  feature 
of  the  dish  is  to  enable  the  operator  to  count  the 
eggs,  which  of  course  is  easily  done  for  any  one  layer 
by  counting  the  number  in  one  row,  each  way,  and 
multiplying  them  together. 

It  has  been  demonstrated  that  fish  of  the  same 
family  can  sometimes  be  crossed.  The  Chinese  have 
long  been  in  the  practice  of  crossing  various  breeds 
of  the  carp.  Trout  eggs  have  been  impregnated 
with  salmon  milt,  and  hatched,  and  salmon  eggs  im- 
pregnated with  trout  milt  have  hatched.* 

The  question  whether  the  progeny  will  ever  repro- 
duce, has  not,  I  think,  been  decided  by  actual  exper- 
iment :  but  science,  popular  belief,  and  analogy  all 
bear  uniformly  negative  testimony. 

PLACING  THE  SPAWN. 

This  is  a  very  simple  process,  After  the  eggs  in  the 
pan  are  thoroughly  rinsed,  take  them  to  the  hatching 
house,  and  set  back  the  water  in  the  hatching  trough 
so  that  it  will  be  about  two  inches  deep.  Then  place 
one  end  of  the  pan  below  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and,  drawing  it  slowly  backwards  up  stream,  gradually 
pour  the  eggs  out  under  water.  If  you  give  the  pan  a 

*  "  In  1869  I  crossed  the  yellow  perch  Perca  ( flavescens'}  with 
the  glass-eyed  pike  (Lvcioperca\  both  percoids,  using  perch  eggs 
and  pike  milt.  The  result  was  an  embryo  which  continued  to 
develop  till  the  seventh  day,  when  the  development  suddenly 
stopped  entirely,  although  the  embryo  did  not  die.  At  this  point 
it  resembled  the  embryo  of  the  same  age  of  the  yellow  perch 
proper."  —  Artificial  Fish  Breeding,  P^RY,  p.  52. 


TAKING   THE    EGGS.  Ill 

sort  of  sifting  motion,  it  will  distribute  the  eggs  rather 
more  evenly.  When  the  eggs  are  all  out,  take  a 
feather  and  separate  and  place  them  as  you  wish  to 
have  them  remain.  It  is  best,  on  the  whole,  in  placing 
the  eggs  through  the  season,  to  begin  at  the  bottom  of 
the  hatching  trough  and  work  up,  because  by  this  plan 
the  shells  and  other  waste  matter  coming  from  the 
hatched  eggs  are  not  carried  down  upon  the  others 
still  hatching. 


CHAPTER   II. 
HATCHING  THE  EGGS. 

THE  eggs  being  taken  and  laid  down  in  the 
troughs,  the  next  thing  is  to  hatch  them.  This 
is  a  long  and  slow  process,  and  coming,  as  it  does,  in 
the  coldest  season  of  the  year,  has,  in  the  colder  lati- 
tudes of  this  country,  some  hardships  connected  with 
it.  For  instance,  the  daily  examination  of  the  eggs  in 
a  house  hatching  a  quarter  or  a  half  million  is  some- 
times a  long  task  of  almost  still  work,  usually  in  a 
room  so  large  and  damp  that  the  stove  has  no  effect 
on  its  general  temperature  ;  and  when  the  mercury  is 
at  zero  or  15°  below  it,  one  can  imagine  what  exposure 
this  work  in  ice  and  water  must  be. 

On  the  other  hand,  hatching  the  eggs  is  the  very 
simplest  and  surest  of  all  the  branches  of  trout  breed- 
ing. Any  one  can  hatch  the  eggs  with  the  knowledge 
now  furnished  from  past  experience,  by  simply  follow- 
ing directions.  It  requires  no  skill  or  proficiency.  It 
is  mere  clock-work  routine  when  the  hatching  appara- 
tus is  properly  prepared.  When  you  consider  that  the 
eggs  differ  from  the  fish  in  these  two  points,  namely, 
that  they  cannot  move  of  themselves,  and  that  they 
require  no  nourishment,  you  perceive  at  once  how 
much  the  care  of  them  must  be  simplified  in  conse- 


HATCHING   THE    EGGS.  113 

quence.  Indeed,  the  eggs  kept  in  clean  running  water 
will  hatch  themselves.  Nature  provides  with  the  egg 
all  that  it  needs  for  its  nourishment,  and  what  is  re- 
quired of  the  breeder  is  simply  to  see  that  nothing 
interferes  with  nature's  work. 

This  negative  task,  however,  of  guarding  the  eggs 
from  danger,  though,  with  the  present  improved  appli- 
ances for  hatching,  it  requires  no  great  skill,  is  not  by 
any  means  a  sinecure,  but,  on  the  contrary,  calls  for 
caution,  vigilance,  and  labor,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  general  remarks  on  hatching  eggs. 

The  main  dangers  to  which  the  eggs  are  subjected 
are  four  in  number,  and  are  all  fatal.  They  are,  — 

1.  Alga  (fungus). * 

2.  Sediment. 

3.  Living  enemies. 

4.  Byssus  (fungus).* 

Carbonized  wood  is  a  protection  against  the  first, 
fungus.  The  system  of  filtering  is  a  protection  against 
the  second,  sediment.  Tight  covers  are  a  protection 
against  the  third,  live  enemies.  The  daily  examina- 
tion of  the  eggs  is  a  protection  against  the  fourth, 
byssus. 

It  follows,  then,  that  the  dangers  are  all  guarded 
against  by  the  provisions  themselves  of  the  hatching 
apparatus,  in  connection  with  the  daily  examination  "of 
the  eggs. 

It  may  be  well  here,  however,  to  allude  briefly  to 

*  These  are  both  fungi,  but  the  first  enumerated  is  usually 
called,  in  trout  breeding,  by  its  generic  name,  fungus,  and  the 
fourth  by  its  specific  name,  byssus. 

H 


114  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

the  character  and  effect  of  the  four  sources  of  injury 
mentioned. 

i.  Fungus*  '  There  is  no  word  in  the  fish  breeders' 
vocabulary  that  is  so  associated  with  loss  and  devasta- 
tion as  the  word  "  fungus."  There  is  nothing  with 
which  he  has  to  deal  that  is  so  insidious  and  deadly 
as  fungus.  This  silent,  invisible  foe  is  sure  to  come,  if 
any  door  is  left  open  for  its  entrance.  It  often  fastens 
its  irrevocable  grasp  on  the  eggs,  without  giving  any 
sign  of  its  approach.  Once  present  in  the  water,  it 
spreads  over  everything.  It  cannot  be  removed.  It 
never  lets  go  its  hold.  It  is  fatal  in  its  effects. 

Most  of  my  readers  know  that  fungus  is  a  vegetable 
growth  of  a  low  order,  which  makes  its  appearance 
almost  invariably  where  there  is  water,  and  especially 
on  newly  cut  wood,  on  which  it  eventually  becomes  a 
mass  of  nearly  colorless  or  milky  slime. f  What  makes 
it  so  peculiarly  noxious  is,  that  each  one  of  its  cells, 
whether  detached  or  not,  is  a  reproductive  seed, 
that  is  to  say,  a  perfect  reproducing  plant  in  itself. 
Consequently,  when  it  is  torn  up  anywhere,  or  broken 
in  pieces,  instead  of  being  destroyed,  it  only  becomes 
more  powerful  to  injure. 

So  where  any  fragment  of  fungus  falls,  however 
small,  even  if  it  is  only  one  microscopic  cell,  it  imme- 
diately proceeds  to  grow,  and  produce  other  similar 

*  "Fungus,  a  large  natural  order  of  plants,  comprehending 
the  microscopic  plants,  which  form  mould,  mildew,  smut,  etc. 
The  fungi  constitute  one  division  of  the  Linnean  class  of  Cryp- 
togamia." —  Webster's  Dictionary. 

I  On  hard  wood  and  knotty  wood  it  is  sometimes  black,  but 
the  common  form  of  growth  is  nearly  colorless. 


HATCHING   THE    EGGS.  TT5 

cells,  and  so  on  indefinitely.  Therefore  when  it  is 
torn  off  or  broken  in  pieces,  as  it  constantly  is,  by  the 
action  of  running  water,  it  is  not  destroyed,  but  ren- 
dered tenfold  more  capable  of  injury ;  for  where  one 
plant  existed  before,  now  there  are  as  many  plants 
as  fragments.  Thus  having  once  found  entrance,  it 
spreads  over  everything,  and  its  removal  is  worse  than 
Hercules's  task  of  killing  the  hundred-headed  Hydra, 
whose  heads  grew  out  as  fast  as  they  were  cut  off. 

This  fungus,  if  once  present  in  the  hatching  water, 
will  certainly  attach  itself  to  the  eggs,  and  when  it 
does,  their  fate  is  sealed  ;  you  cannot  save  them  from 
its  effect,  as  it  never  lets  go  its  hold.  It  will  surely 
eat  out  the  vitality  of  the  embryo  within,  and  will 
either  kill  it  wholly  or  will  leave  a  puny,  lifeless,  trans- 
parent creature,  which  will  in  all  probability  never  live 
to  grow  up.  It  cannot  therefore  be  guarded  against 
with  too  much  care. 

If  the  eggs  seem  to  hang  together,  or  stick  to  the 
bottom,  or  move  about  heavily,  when  they  are  agitated 
with  a  feather,  you  should  be  on  the  watch  for  fungus, 
for  these  are  signs  of  it.  It  is  detected  for  a  certainty, 
on  the  eggs,  by  placing  a  few  in  a  clear  homoeopathic 
phial,  and  holding  them  up  to  the  light.  If  there  is 
fungus  on  them,  it  will  be  seen  as  a  collection  of  very 
fine,  ethereal,  colorless  threads  floating  over  the  eggs 
like  streamers.  If  you  see  this,  the  pestilence  has 
come. 

If  it  should  by  any  accident  form  upon  your  eggs, 
shut  out  at  once  all  light  from  them  •  this  will  check 
its  growth  somewhat.  Increase  the  current  as  much 


Il6  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

as  you  can  safely,  and  make  the  water  colder,  if  pos- 
sible. You  can  never  make  good  eggs  of  them  again, 
but  you  may  arrest  its  spreading  in  some  degree,  and 
save  the  lives  of  some  of  the  embryos.  An  ounce 
of  prevention  is,  however,  worth  a  pound  of  cure,  and 
in  this  instance  it  is  worth  a  thousand  pounds  of 
cure.  Therefore  char  every  box,  aqueduct,  and  trough, 
and  all  the  wood-work  through  which  the  water  flows  ; 
then  you  will  have  no  fungus.  It  will  not  form  on 
charcoal  in  the  dark. 

2.  Sediment.  This  is  a  danger  of  no  small  impor- 
tance, but  it  is  nothing  like  fungus  in  its  destructive- 
ness,  for  it  can  be  removed,  it  does  not  spread,  and  it 
is  not  always  fatal.  It  is,  however,  a  very  bad  thing, 
and  sometimes  very  troublesome.  It  consists  of  the 
very  fine  dust  which  is  held  mechanically  in  all  run- 
ning water.  As  remarked  in  a  previous  chapter,  it 
may  not  be  discernible  in  the  water  when  examined 
by  the  eye,  but  will  show  its  presence  after  the  water 
has  run  a  certain  length  of  time  over  a  given  place,  by 
being  precipitated  as  a  light  deposit  of  dirt  or  mud 
over  the  spot.  This  fine  layer  of  dirt,  if  it  should 
settle  on  the  eggs,  would  suffocate  them  in  time,  or  if 
not  in  sufficient  quantity  to  suffocate  them  would,  by 
interrupting  the  processes  of  absorption  and  growth  of 
the  embryo  at  certain  points,  cause  a  deformity  in  the 
fish  when  hatched.  Many  of  the  curved  spines, 
hunched  backs,  and  spiral  bodies  of  fish  newly  hatched 
are  caused  by  this  partial  suffocation  of  the  embryo  by 
the  sediment.  The  remedy  for  sediment,  or  rather  its 
prevention,  as  before  observed,  is  the  system  of  filters. 


HATCHING   THE   EGGS.  1 1/ 

These  should  be  sufficient  to  arrest  it  effectively.  If 
they  cannot  be  made  sufficient,  then  the  stream  is  not 
worth  using.* 

If  by  any  accident  sediment  should  get  upon  the 
eggs  occasionally,  the  method  of  removing  it  is  so 
simple,  that  it  need  cause  no  alarm,  if  it  is  attended  to 
at  once.  This  method  consists  merely  in  watering  the 
eggs  with  a  common  garden  watering-pot,  at  the  same 
time  keeping  the  outlet  screen  clear,  to  let  off  the  sed- 
iment as  it  floats  down.  This  plan,  though  so  simple, 
is  very  effective.  It  will  remove  every  particle  of  sed- 
iment from  the  eggs,  and  leave  them,  as  well  as  the 
bed  of  the  hatching-troughs,  cleaner  than  before  the 
sediment  was  observed.  The  agitation  also  seems  to 
do  the  eggs  good  in  other  ways,  f 

I  should  water  the  eggs  occasionally,  even  if  there 
were  no  sediment  to  be  removed.  The  precaution 

*  When  the  hatching  water  has  so  much  sediment  in  it  that 
filtering  cannot  make  it  safe  for  the  eggs  in  the  common  hatch- 
ing troughs,  the  water  can  still  be  used  sometimes  with  grilles, 
by  washing  off  daily  with  the  watering-pot  the  sediment  which 
collects  on  the  eggs.  The  sediment  will  fall  through  the 
openings  between  the  grilles,  and  be  out  of  the  way  of  the 
eggs.  The  eggs  can  be  safely  hatched  in  this  way,  but  the 
sediment  must  be  closely  watched  and  carefully  kept  off  the 
eggs. 

t  "  Une  autre  condition  necessaire  au  developpement  des  ceufs, 
c'est  de  les  rernuer  souvent ;  un  repos  absolu  les  tuerait  neces- 
sairement."  —  VOGT,  Embryologie  des  Salmones,  p.  16. 

It  should  be  said,  in  explanation  of  the  above  note,  that  Vogt's 
experiments  were  not  conducted  in  running  water.  This  does 
not,  however,  invalidate  his  testimony  as  to  the  effect  of  agi- 
tating the  eggs. 


Il8  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

should  be  taken,  however,  to  have  the  water  about  two 
inches  deep,  or  the  concussion  of  the  falling  water  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  the  eggs  will  sometimes  be  inju- 
rious to  the  embryo. 

3.  Living  enemies.  So  much  has  been  already  said 
about  this  class  of  dangers,  that  I  would  pass  them  by 
here,  if  I  had  not  seen  so  much  carelessness  on  the 
part  of  trout  breeders  in  leaving  their  eggs  exposed  to 
these  enemies.  I  am  convinced  that  persons  gener- 
ally do  not  begin  to  realize  the  danger  from  this  source, 
and  I  have  often  wished,  for  their  benefit,  that  a  pic 
ture  could  be  drawn,  representing  all  the  enemies  to 
trout  eggs  directing  their  steps  just  after  nightfall  to 
their  nightly  feast  in  the  hatching-house  troughs.  It 
is  true  they  do  not  all  come  at  once  ;  but  if  they  did, 
there  would  be  in  the  picture  mice,  rats,  weasles, 
muskrats,  minks,  cats,  frogs,  snakes,  lizards,  evets, 
caddis-worms,  water-spiders,  boat-flies,  water-beetles, 
and  snails  ;  and  then  the  picture  would  not  include 
ducks,  geese,  wild  water-fowl,  eels,  large  trout,  and 
countless  other  fish  which  would  come  in  the  daytime 
if  they  could  get  at  them. 

Yet  persons  imagine  that,  because  they  do  not  see 
these  creatures  feeding  on  the  eggs  or  young  fry  in 
the  morning  when  they  open  the  hatching-house,  they 
have  probably  not  been  there.  But  it  is  just  the 
reverse.  The  probability  is  all  the  other  way.  It  is 
even  a  certainty.  Just  imagine  for  a  moment  that  a 
starving  mouse  has  strayed  into  the  house  some  freez- 
ing night ;  it  will  not  be  long  before  he  will  find  the 
eggs,  and  will  make  a  feast  on  them.  How  can  you 


HATCHING   THE   EGGS.  IIQ 

suppose  that  the  next  night,  when  he  gets  hungry 
again,  he  will  not  return  to  where  he  left  a  rich  supper 
the  night  before  ?  Do  you  suppose  there  is  one 
chance  in  a  hundred  of  his  not  coming?  There  is  not 
even  that  small  chance.  If  the  mouse  is  alive  the  next 
night,  and  has  not  been  driven  away,  he  will  come  back 
to  his  feast  as  sure  as  darkness  comes  on,  and  so  he 
will  continue  to  do  every  night  of  his  life  while  the  eggs 
last.  And  yet  I  hear  people  say,  in  the  coolest  way 
imaginable,  of  their  unprotected  spawn,  "  I  guess  noth- 
ing will  come  to  take  the  eggs  to-night."  Why,  not 
only  is  the  warm  hatching-house  an  attractive  place  to 
these  creatures  of  prey  in  the  winter,  when  the  eggs  are 
hatching,  because  of  its  comparative  warmth,  but  they 
are  every  one  of  them  impelled  to  these  eggs  by  the 
strongest  of  animal  instincts,  namely,  hunger.  How, 
then,  can  the  eggs  escape,  if  they  are  exposed  ? 

The  only  protection  that  I  believe  in  is  covers. 
Traps  and  poison  may  or  may  not  remove  the  cause 
of  loss  before  the  loss  comes,  but  tight  lids  make  the 
thing  sure.  Have  tight  lids,  fitting  close,  over  all  your 
troughs,  and  you  may  sleep  in  peace  at  night  for  all 
the  injury  that  rats  and  mice  and  other  outside  enemies 
will  do  your  eggs. 

4.  Byssus.  This  is  also  a  fungus  growth,  like  the 
other,  but  it  comes  from  the  eggs  themselves,  and  not 
from  external  sources,  and  it  is  not  so  much  to  be 
feared.  This  plant  is  created  by  matter  decaying  in 
the  water  ;  so  that  whenever  a  fish  egg  loses  its  vitality, 
and  begins  to  putrefy,  byssus  commences  to  grow. 
With  trout  eggs  in  water  at  40°  or  50°  degrees  Fahren- 


I2O  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

heit  it  generally  appears  within  forty-eight  hours  after  the 
egg  turns  white,  and  often  sooner,  and  the  warmer 
the  water  the  quicker  it  comes.  It  is  never  quite  safe 
to  leave  the  dead  eggs  over  twenty-four  hours  in  the 
hatching  boxes.  The  peculiarity  of  byssus  is,  that  it 
stretches  out  its  long,  slender  arms,  which  grow  rapidly, 
over  everything  within  its  reach.  This  makes  it  pecu- 
liarly mischievous,  for  it  will  sometimes  clasp  a  dozen 
or  even  twenty  eggs  in  its  Briarean  grasp  before  it  is 
discovered,  and  any  egg  that  it  has  seized  has  received 
its  death-warrant.  Like  the  alga  before  mentioned, 
every  cell  is  reproductive ;  and  it  should,  on  that 
account  be  carefully  handled.  The  remedy  or  protec- 
tion is  the  daily  examination  of  the  eggs  with  feather 
and  nippers.  If  this  is  faithfully  performed,  the  byssus 
will  never  come. 

This  examination  of  the  eggs  is  a  very  considerable 
part  of  the  trout  breeder's  work  in  winter,  and  demands 
to  be  treated  at  considerable  length,  which  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  do  in  this  connection. 

If  your  hatching  streams  would  run  just  as  you 
wanted  them  to,  if  the  filters  were  all  right  and  would 
remain  so,  if  the  eggs  were  all  impregnated,  this  daily 
examination  would  be  a  very  easy  task  ;  but  as  this  is 
too  much  to  expect,  you  should  be  prepared  to  make 
quite  a  labor  of  this  daily  duty,  and  the  following  sug- 
gestions may  be  of  some  service  in  performing  it.  On 
entering  the  hatching  house,  look  first  at  the  outlet 
of  all  the  hatching  compartments.  You  will  sooa learn 
to  do  so  instinctively.  They  will  tell  you  whether  the 
various  streams  are  running  right  or  not;  for  if  the 


HATCHING   THE   EGGS.  121 

outlet  is  running  right,  the  inlet  must  be  also,  of  neces- 
sity. If  anything  is  wrong  in  the  flow  of  the  hatch- 
ing streams,  follow  them  up  from  'the  outlet  till  you 
discover  the  cause,  and,  when  you  have,  remove  it, 
and  also,  if  practicable,  the  possibility  of  its  occurring 
again.  If  the  streams  are  running  right,  next  ex- 
amine the  filters.  If  they  are  clogged  up  or  too  dirty 
for  safety,  take  them  out,  change  and  clean  them, 
according  to  directions  given  under  the  head  of  Filters.* 
Remove  them  carefully  when  they  are  taken  from  the 
tank,  so  as  not  to  shake  the  dirt  off  the  flannel  into 
the  water,  and  try  to  keep  the  rear  one  clean  enough 
not  to  require  changing  at  all ;  for  when  you  remove 
that  one,  the  sediment  in  front  of  it  has  free  access  to 
the  gravel,  and  some  of  it  may  get  through  to  the  eggs. 
The  eggs  claim  your  attention  next ;  you  proceed  to 
them  with  feather  and  nippers.  The  feather  you  need 
to  move  the  eggs  with  ;  the  nippers  you  require  to 
pick  out  the  dead  ones.  A  feather  from  a  turkey's 
tail  I  like  best  for  feathers.  For  nippers  take  a  piece 
of  flat  steel  spring,  about  ten  inches  long  and  not  over 
an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  width  ;  bend  it  exactly  in  the 
middle,  spread  the  ends  by  hammering,  and  you  have 
as  good  an  instrument,  I  believe,  as  there  is  for  pick- 
ing out  eggs.  Other  things  are  used,  as,  for  instance, 
the  bulb  syringe,  and  a  miniature  spoon  made  of  a 
concave  coil  of  fine  wire  fastened  into  a  wooden 
handle.  These  have  the  advantage  over  nippers  for 
picking  out  live  eggs,  that  they  do  not  hurt  the  eggs ; 

*  The  tanks  should  be  drawn  off  and  thoroughly  washed  out, 
whenever  much  sediment  begins  to  collect  in  them. 
6 


122  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

but  for  picking  out  dead  eggs,  there  is,  in  my  opinion, 
nothing  better  than  the  common  steel  nippers  just 
described.  Nothing  certainly  can  be  surer  and 
quicker  in  its  operation  in  an  experienced  hand. 

Your  first  question,  when  the  eggs  are  to  be  picked 
over,  will  probably  be,  How  can  the  dead  ones  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  live  ones  ?  But  the  anxiety  which 
every  new  operator  feels  on  this  point  is  wholly  need- 
less, for  you  cannot  mistake  them.  The  dead  ones 
will  turn  as  white  as  milk,  and  can  be  as  easily  told 
from  the  live  ones  as  white  quartz  from  gray  peb- 
bles. You  will  even  perceive  the  dead  ones  distinctly, 
as  soon  as  you  open  the  boxes.  You  will  at  once 
remove  them  with  the  nippers.  To  handle  the  nip- 
pers rapidly  and  safely  is  quite  an  art,  and  reminds 
one  of  playing  at  jack-straws.  But  as  the  required 
skill  will  soon  come  with  practice,  I  will  say  no  more 
here,  than  that  you  should  be  careful  at  first  not  to 
touch  the  live  ones  with  the  nippers,  and  by  all  means 
not  to  bruise  them  by  any  pressure  from  above.  In 
time  you  will  learn  to  hit  the  live  ones,  while  picking 
out,  without  hurting  them.  But  till  you  have  acquired 
this  knack,  you  should  be  on  your  guard. 

As  it  is  only  the  unimpregnated  eggs  that  die  (except 
by  accident),  the  amount  of  the  work  of  examining 
the  eggs  depends  almost  wholly  on  the  percentage  of 
impregnation.  This  is  obvious.  If  one  hundred  per 
cent  were  impregnated,  there  would  be  none  to  pick 
out,  and  the  work  would  be  nothing.  If  ninety  nine 
per  cent  were  impregnated,  the  work  would  be  very 
slight.  But  if  not  more  than  fifty  per  cent  were 


HATCHING   THE   EGGS.  123 

good,  then  the  work  would  be  increased  fifty-fold. 
The  difference  in  the  labor  would  be  very  great,  as 
this  little  estimate  will  show.  Suppose  half  a  million 
eggs  are  taken,  and  fifty  per  cent  are  empty.  It  takes 
about  a  minute  to  pick  out  twenty  eggs  ;  then  to  pick 
out  fifty  per  cent  of  five  hundred  thousand  would  take 
over  twelve  thousand  minutes,  or  two  hundred  hours, 
or  twenty  days  of  ten  hours  each. 

It  is  therefore  very  desirable  to  get  a  large  percentage 
of  impregnated  eggs,  if  only  on  account  of  the  work 
it  saves,  as  well  as  for  weightier  reasons. 

During  the  first  few  days  after  the  eggs  are  placed, 
there  will  not  be  many  white  ones  to  pick  out,  unless 
they  have  been  injured  in  being  taken.  You  must 
not  be  elated  at  this,  for  it  is  no  sign  that  the  un- 
changed eggs  are  all  good,  or  nearly  so,  for  the  empty 
ones  will  not  turn  white  to  any  extent  for  two  or  three 
weeks,  or  more,  and  some  will  not  die  till  all  the  good 
ones  are  hatched.  But  you  are  no  better  off  for  it. 
On  the  contrary,  I  think  I  have  noticed  that  the  better 
the  impregnation  of  any  lot,  the  sooner  the  empty  ones 
of  that  lot  died  ;  probably  because  the  eggs  were  riper. 
Their  turn  will  come,  however,  to  all  the  bad  eggs ; 
and  when  the  time  fairly  sets  in  for  them  to  die,  then 
the  work  will  begin  in  earnest,  and  unless  you  have  a 
small  stock  or  a  very  good  impregnation,  there  will  be 
work  of  no  trifling  character.  To  stand  or  sit  in  the 
damp,  unwarmed  hatching  house  for  a  long  time  in  mid- 
winter at  this  still  work,  is  in  our  northern  latitudes  a 
severe  task,  and  trying  to  the  hardiest  constitution. 
It  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  my  readers  will  have 


124  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

few  empty  eggs,  and  a  large  stove  near  by,  to  warm 
themselves  at. 

The  method  of  procedure  in  the  daily  examination 
of  the  eggs  is,  as  before  remarked,  very  much  like 
playing  at  jack-straws.  You  begin  first  with  the  loose 
and  uppermost  eggs,  then  set  more  free  by  agitating 
the  water  with  the  feather,  then  pick  out  the  loose  ones 
again,  then  agitate  the  pile  once  more,  and  so  on,  till 
they  have  all  been  spread  and  all  picked  out  in  that  lot. 
Leaving  these  evenly  distributed,  you  pass  on  to  the 
next,  keeping  account  of  the  number  you  pick  out, 
so  as  to  know  how  many  are  left,  and  so  on  till  all 
are  examined.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  work, 
after  all,  has  a  certain  charm  about  it,  especially  when 
you  think  what  a  vast  wealth  of  life  moves  under  the 
touch  of  your  feather ;  and  it,  moreover,  affords  an 
excellent  opportunity  for  quiet  reflection,  so  that  if 
you  can  pick  over  the  eggs  without  suffering  too 
much  from  the  cold,  it  is  not  so  unpleasant  a  task  as 
it  seemed  before  you  began  it. 

The  progress  of  the  eggs  in  hatching  will  be  watched 
with  the  liveliest  interest.  The  simplest  way  to  ex- 
amine their  progress  minutely  is  to  take  out  two  or 
three  eggs,  and  place  them  in  a  homoeopathic  phial  filled 
with  water.  Hold  the  phial  horizontally  towards  the 
light  and  above  the  eye.  The  contents  of  the  eggs 
then  become  clearly  visible,  and  can  be  examined  at 
leisure,  and  a  magnifying  lens  applied  if  desired.  This 
is  Seth  Green's  method. 

Another  way  is  to  take  a  small  pane  of  window-glass, 
and,  by  fastening  narrow  wooden  sides  to  it,  make  a 


HATCHING   THE   EGGS.  125 

shallow  box  with  a  glass  bottom.  Pour  in  a  little  water, 
and  put  the  eggs  to  be  examined  in  the  water ;  then 
by  looking  from  above  or  below,  but  especially  from 
below,  you  can  see  very  distinctly  what  is  inside  the 
egg.  This  method  obviates  the  distortion  sometimes 
produced  by  refraction  in  the  homoeopathic  phial. 

You  will  soon  be  very  anxious  to  ascertain  how 
large  a  percentage  of  the  eggs  is  impregnated. 

It  has  been  usually  thought  that  the  impregnated 
eggs  could  not  be  told  from  the  empty  ones  previous 
to  the  formation  of  the  embryotic  line,  which  is  the 
spine  of  the  fish,  and  which  appears  when  about  one 
third  of  the  period  of  incubation  *  is  accomplished. 
This,  however,  is  not  strictly  true,  because  there  is 
a  period,  within  forty-eight  hours  of  the  taking  of  the 
eggs,  when  the  good  eggs  can  be  distinguished  from 
the  worthless  ones.  The  distinction  is  this,  that  in 
the  unimpregnated  eggs  a  small  annular  disk,  with 
a  much  smaller  round  dot  in  the  centre,  will  be  seen 
at  the  top  of  the  egg,  and  will  remain  there  until 
the  eggs  turn  white,  while  in  the  impregnated  egg 
the  disk  will  disappear  within  twenty-four  hours. 
The  eggs,  then,  which  after  the  first  day  present  tire 
disk,  are  unimpregnated.  Those  in  which  the  disk  is 
not  visible  are  impregnated.  The  explanation  of  this 
is  as  follows. 

*  The  word  "incubation"  from  in  and  cubo,  "to  sit  on," 
has  been  used  in  reference  to  the  hatching  of  bird's  eggs  by 
steam,  and  seems  to  be  equally  allowable  in  this  application  for 
the  hatching  of  fish  eggs.  There  is  no  sitting  upon  the  eggs  in 
either  case. 


126  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

At  the  end  of  a  few  hours,  more  or  less,  according  to 
the  temperature  of  the  water,  the  germ  of  the  egg  rises 
to  the  top  in  both  the  fertilized  and  the  unfertilized 
egg,  which  look  exactly  alike.  The  germ  in  the  un- 
fertilized egg,  however,  undergoes  no  change  whatever 
from  this  time,  while  in  the  fertilized  egg  a  process  soon 
begins  which  is  called  by  the  French  embryologists 
"  sillonnemcnt"  or  furrowing,  and  by  English  writers 
"segmentation."  This  process  begins  by  the  sinking 
of  a'deep  furrow  through  the  centre  of  the  germ,  divid- 
ing it  into  two  equal  parts.  This  is  followed  by  an- 
other, bisecting  the  first,  and  another  and  another,  until 
the  subdivisions  have  been  continued  indefinitely,  when 
the  germ  again  presents  nearly  the  same  appearance 
as  at  first.  While  this  "  sillonnement?  or  segmenta- 
tion, is  going  on,  the  original  disk  formed  by  the  germ 
in  the  impregnated  egg  disappears,  and  cannot  be 
seen  at  all,  thus  distinguishing  it  plainly  from  the  un- 
impregnated  egg,  which  still  presents  the  germ  disk  as 
clearly  as  ever.  Therefore  at  this  period  the  unim- 
pregnated  eggs  can  be  told  from  the  impregnated 
ones  by  the  one  presenting  the  distinct  germ  disk, 
while  the  other  shows  no  trace  of  it. 

The  percentage  of  impregnated  eggs  can  now  be 
told  approximately  ;  but  as  the  light  must  be  favorable 
in  order  to  tell  which  eggs  have  the  gerrn  disk  visible 
and  which  have  not,  and  as  it  is  not  a  good  plan  to 
handle  the  eggs  too  much  at  this  stage,  it  is  perhaps 
quite  as  well  to  be  patient  and  wait  till  the  tissues  of 
the  fish  are  firm  enough  to  allow  the  egg  to  be  han- 
dled, and  the  clearly  marked  eye  spots  leave  no  doubt 


HATCHING   THE    EGGS.  I2/ 

as  to  which  eggs  are  impregnated  and  which  are  not, 
before  attempting  to  decide  with  much  exactness  on 
the  percentage  of  impregnation. 

As  remarked  above,  a  fine  dark  line  near  the  mid- 
dle of  the  impregnated  egg  will  be  observed,  on  close 
examination,  about  the  end  of  the  first  third  of  the 
hatching  period.  Soon  the  whole  form  of  the  fish  will 
become  cloudily  apparent,  and  then  the  black  eye- 
spots  will  appear,  first  one  and  then  both.  Now  is  the 
best  time  to  tell  what  proportion  of  the  eggs  are  im- 
pregnated. You  can  form  some  estimate,  perhaps,  be- 
fore, by  taking  out  a  few  in  the  phial,  say  ten,  and 
counting  the  impregnated  ones  in  it.  If,  for  instance, 
nine  are  visible,  then  you  infer  that  ninety  per  cent  are 
good.  But  this  method  is  very  deceptive,  and  can- 
not be  relied  upon,  both  because  the  number  is  too 
small  to  base  an  estimate  on,  and  also  because  the 
specific  gravity  of  the  empty  ones  being  a  little  less 
than  that  of  the  full  ones,  it  sometimes  happens  that 
a  twirl  of  the  feather  will  throw  the  empty  ones 
together  in  a  hole,  and  the  impregnated  ones  together 
in  another  pile,  on  the  mechanical  principle  which 
leaves  sand,  marl,  and  vegetable  matter  in  a  brook  in 
different  spots  by  themselves.  In  taking  out  three  or 
four  in  a  phial  for  examination,  you  may  happen  to  hit 
upon  one  of  these  piles  or  the  other,  and  so  get  a 
deceptive  sample  of  the  eggs  in  general. 

The  best  way  to  get  the  ratio  of  the  good  to  the 
worthless  ones  is  to  take  out  several  hundreds  or  a 
thousand  after  the  eye-spots  show  plainly,  and  pick 
out  the  empty  ones.  Count  both,  and  add  its  proper- 


128  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

tion  of  previously  removed  eggs  to  the  number  of 
empty  ones,  and  you  get  at  the  proportion  of  impreg- 
nated eggs.  This,  however,  only  answers  for  the  par- 
ticular box  from  which  these  were  taken.  To  obtain 
the  percentage  of  the  whole  season's  yield,  this  opera- 
tion must  be  repeated  with  each  box  or  compartment. 
It  will  be  well  to  observe  here,  also,  that  it  is  a  good 
plan,  as  soon  as  the  impregnated  eggs  are  unmistaka- 
bly distinguishable  from  the  empty  ones,  to  take  them 
all  out  into  pans,  and  remove  all  the  empty  ones 
before  replacing  them  in  the  hatching-boxes.  The 
work  of  picking  over  will  be  done  much  easier  and 
quicker  this  way,  and  it  has  this  great  advantage, 
that  it  is  done  once  for  all,  and  you  are  for  the  rest 
of  the  season  relieved  of  the  burden  of  care  which 
the  daily  necessity  of  removing  the  empty  ones  in- 
volves. 

The  time  required  for  hatching  depends  chiefly  on 
the  temperature  of  the  water.  Seth  Green's  rule  is 
that  at  50°  Fahrenheit  trout  eggs  will  hatch  out  in 
fifty  days,  and  every  degree  warmer  or  colder  makes 
five  days'  difference  in  time  ;  warmer  water  shortening 
the  period,  and  colder  water  lengthening  it.  Green 
also  says,  that  if  the  fish  are  hatched  in  fifty  days,  the 
yolk  sac  remains  thirty  more.  If  in  seventy  days,  the 
sac  remains  forty-five  days. 


HATCHING   THE    EGGS. 
Mr.  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth's  table  is  as  follows  :  — 


Average  tem- 
perature of 
water. 

No.  of  days  to 
first  formation 
of  trout. 

No.  of  days  to 
formation  of 
eyes  and  red 
blood. 

No.  of  days  to 
hatching 

No.  of  days 
after  hatching 
to  feeding. 

0 

371 

43 

8l 

I65 

29 

64 

J35 

77 

39 

28 

62 

121 

27 

54 

109 

60 

4i 

21 

49 

103 

19 

42 

96 

43* 

17 

37 

89 

46 

44 

16 

34     . 

81 

45f 

15 

31 

73 

46  J 

*3 

29 

65 

48 

ii 

26 

56 

50 

10 

23 

47 

30 

52 

8 

18 

38 

54 

7 

15 

32 

Appearance 

as  fig.  7. 

as  fig.  12. 

of  spawn  as 

fig-  3- 

Although  results  somewhat  varying  from  these  fig- 
ures will  be  obtained  in  different  waters,  they  may, 
nevertheless,  be  regarded  as  a  safe  guide  in  general. 
I  will  only  add  that  in  my  own  experience  I  have 
found  that  the  yolk  sac  requires  more  time  for  its 
absorption  in  proportion  to  the  time  of  incubation  ;  I 
should  say  quite  a  third  more. 

As  the  development  of  the  embryo  advances,  the 
care  of  the  eggs  will  become  more  and  more  inter- 
esting. They  will,  however,  lose  their  bright  crys- 
talline look,  as  they  lie  in  the  water,  and  will  assume, 
collectively,  a  dull  brownish  hue ;  but  when  exam- 
ined separately,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  does  not 
6*  i  x 


I3O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

arise  from  any  unfavorable  change,  but  from  the 
embryo  thickening  and  darkening  in  the  shell.  This 
development  and  the  filling  up  of  the  shell  with 
the  embryo  proceeds  rapidly  till  about  the  same 
time  has  elapsed  that  was  required  for  the  eye-spots 
to  appear,  when  the  whole  figure  of  the  fish,  thick 
and  black  and  fully  formed,  will  be  seen,  usually 
lying  quiet  and  motionless,  but  occasionally  stirring 
with  a  little  spasmodic  leap  or  wriggle.  The  time  of 
their  release  is  now  near  at  hand,  and  you  may  expect 
to  find  a  newly  hatched  trout  or  two  in  your  earlier 
hatching  boxes  any  day.* 

An  inexperienced  person  might  suppose  that  all 
trout  eggs  will  produce  fish  that  are  just  alike  when 
hatched.  But  this  is  very  far  from  the  fact.  There 
is  just  as  much  difference  in  a  brood  of  newly  hatched 
trout  as  there  is  between  the  brawniest  and  puniest 
of  a  litter  of  pigs  or  brood  of  chickens.  Some  will 
be  large,  strong,  and  full  of  vigor  ;  others  will  be 
small,  weak,  and  inactive.  It  is  a  desirable  thing  to 
be  able  to  know  how  to  tell  a  lot  of  eggs  that  will 
produce  good  fish  from  a  lot  that  will  produce  poor 
fish,  and  it  is  very  easy  to  learn.  If  the  embryo  in 
the  egg  is  seen  to  be  dark,  firm,  thick,  clearly  defined, 

*  As  you  will  probably  want  to  procure  specimens  of  eggs 
and  fish  at  different  stages  of  growth,  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
have  a  set  of  homoepathic  phials  in  readiness,  and  some  alcohol. 
One  part  alcohol  to  three  parts  water  is  a  good  preserving 
mixture  at  this  stage.  This  mixture  will  congeal,  but  will  not 
expand  in  congealing  sufficiently  to  burst  the  bottles.  More 
alcohol  with  the  water  will  destroy  the  delicate  tissue  of  the 
embryo. 


HATCHING   THE    EGGS.  131 

and  heavy-looking,  and  hatches  late,  the  egg  will  pro- 
duce a  healthy,  hardy,  broad-shouldered  trout,  and  a 
good  feeder.  If  the  embryo  is  seen  to  be  thin,  Light, 
transparent,  and  hatches  before  its  time,  it  will  pro- 
duce a  puny,  weakly,  thin-bodied  fish,  and  a  poor  eater, 
which  has  not  five  chances  in  a  hundred  of  grow- 
ing up. 

Do  not  be  anxious  to  have  your  eggs  hatch  early. 
If  they  hatch  before  their  time,  it  is  a  bad  sign.  If 
the  embryo  remains  long  in  the  shell  after  forming) 
and  hatches  late,  it  is  a  good  sign.  One  sure  con- 
sequence and  indication  of  the  presence  of  fungus  is 
the  premature  hatching  of  the  egg,  before  the  embryo 
has  become  well  hardened  within  the  shell.  Beware 
of  eggs  that  promise  to  hatch  too  early,  for  they  are 
very  likely  to  be  fungussy  ;  and  out  of  a  thousand  fun- 
gussy  eggs  it  is  an  even  chance  if  one  embryo  lives  a 
year. 

The  microscopic  changes  in  the  eggs  from  day  to 
day  are  presented  in  the  accompanying  drawings  by 
Professor  Agassiz. 


DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 


HATCHING   THE   EGGS.  133 

These  plates  represent  eggs  of  the  Coregonus  palaa  in  differ- 
ent stages  of  their  growth,  as  seen  under  a  powerful  magnifier. 

No.  15  represents  a  spoiled  egg. 

No.  20.    The  embryo  ten  days  old. 

No.  33.    Front  view  of  embryo  eighteen  days  old. 

No.  99.    An  egg  two  days  after  impregnation. 

No.  101.  Appearance  of  first  furrow  second  day  after  impreg- 
nation. 

No.  102.   An  egg  showing  development  of  furrows. 

No   107.    Mulberry  form  of  the  embryo. 

No.  109.  Embryonic  germ  immediately  after  the  disappearance 
of  the  furrows. 

No.  125.    Projection  of  the  embryo  prepared  with  acid,  8th  day. 

No.  133.   Projection  of  embryo  prepared  with  acid,  i/th  day. 

The  letters  denote  as  follows  :  — 

a  Shelly  membrane  ;  b  Yolk  ;  c  Germinal  vesicle :  d  Yolk  globules ;  e  Oil 
drops ;  f  Albumen  ;  g  Yolk  membrane  ;  h  Yolk  vesicle  ;  i  Head  of  the  em- 
bryo ;  j  Yolk  cavity ;  k  Trunk  of  embryo ;  /  Tail ;  m  Dorsal  keel ;  «  Dor- 
sal furrow ;  o  Ocular  lobes  ;  /  Dorsal  cord ;  q  Vertebral  divisions  ;  r  Sheath 
of  dorsal  cord  ;  j  Cephalic  bow  ;  t  Nuchal  bow  ;  u  Trunchal  bow  ;  v  Epider- 
moidal  stratum  ;  x  Procencephalon  ;  y  Mesencephalon ;  z  Epencephalon. 

As  too  much  caution  cannot  be  observed  in  trout- 
culture,  I  hope  the  reader  will  pardon  my  repeating 
here  the  cautions  already  given  :  — 

To  keep  the  covers  down  carefully ; 

To  change  the  filters  when  dirty  ; 

To  take  out  every  dead  egg  once  in  twenty-four 
hours  ; 

To  use  the  watering-pot  freely,  if  sediment  settles 
on  the  eggs  ; 

To  guard  everywhere  against  fungus. 

TRANSPORTATION  AND  PACKING  OF  THE  EGGS. 

Transportation  of  the  eggs.  No  one  need  have  any 
fear  about  being  able  to  transport  trout  eggs  safely. 


134  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

They  have  been  sent  to  England  and  California  with- 
out loss,  and  salmon  eggs  shipped  from  England  have 
reached  Australia  alive.  I  have  sent  eggs  to  Kansas 
and  Europe  safely,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  thou- 
sand salmon  eggs  from  the  writer's  Salmon-Breeding 
Establishment  on  the  Mirimichi  came  eight  miles  by 
private  conveyance,  one  hundred  miles  by  stage,  one 
hundred  miles  by  rail,  two  hundred  miles  by  steamer, 
across  the  city  of  Boston  by  wagon,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  more  miles  by  rail  before  reaching  their 
destination,  where  they  were  found,  on  opening,  to  be 
in  good  condition.  Indeed,  when  trout  and  salmon 
eggs  are  carefully  packed,  they  are  about  as  safe  in 
the  moss  which  encloses  them  as  they  are  in  the 
hatching  boxes,  and  the  only  risk  to  which  they  are 
exposed  in  transportation  is  rough  handling ;  and  I 
have  observed  that  they  will  stand  a  good  deal  of 
that.  A  few,  say  a  dozen  in  a  thousand,  will  perhaps 
die  on  the  way ;  but  excepting  these,  they  will,  as  a 
rule,  arrive  at  their  destination  unhurt.  Injury  to 
any  greater  extent  is  the  exception. 

On  the  tag  or  label  which  accompanies  them  should 
always  be  distinctly  written,  — 

That  they  are  fish  eggs  ; 

That  they  should  be  handled  carefully  ; 

That  they  should  be  kept  in  a  cool  place  ; 

That  concussion  will  kill  them  ; 

That  they  must  not  be  allowed  to  freeze. 

Packing  the  eggs.  It  is  a  sort  of  paradoxical  fact 
that  fish  eggs  do  not  require  much  water  for  hatching, 
but,  relatively,  plenty  of  air.  Consequently,  when 


HATCHING  THE   EGGS. 


135 


packed  in  wet  moss,  the  conditions  of  hatching  are 
supplied,  namely,  a  little  moisture  and  plenty  of 
air.  Moss  is  at  the  same  time  so  soft  that  it  will  not 
bruise  the  eggs.  Hence,  wet  moss  is  just  the  thing 
to  pack  fish  eggs  in.  The  moss  containing  the  eggs 
can  be  packed  in  anything  which  admits  air  and  is 
not  injured  by  moisture. 

For  packing  in  large  quantities,  a  basket  answers  very 
well.  Fish  eggs  have  sometimes  been  sent  in  small 
quantities  in  a  perforated  percussion-cap  box,  and  in  tin 
snuff-boxes.  If  sent  by  express  without  an  attendant, 
the  basket  or  box  containing  them  should  be  packed 
in  a  still  larger  basket  or  box,  containing  hay  or 
shavings  or  sawdust,  to  soften  the  force  of  accidental 
concussions,  and  to  keep  the  temperature  of  the  eggs 
equable. 


The  usual  way  in  practice  to  pack  the  trout  eggs  for 
transportation,  with  small  quantities,  is  that  adopted 
by  Seth  Green,  which  is  to  pack  them  in  circular  tin 
boxes,  not  over  three  inches  in  depth,  with  a  perfo- 
rated bottom  to  let  the  air  in,  and  to  pack  the  boxes 


136  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

themselves  in  a  tin  pail,  somewhat  larger,  and  to  fill 
in  with  sawdust.  This  is  a  simple,  compact,  and 
safe  way,  and  is  the  best  now  known,  unless  it  is 
Mr.  Wilmot's  method.*  The  packing  of  the  eggs  in 
moss  should  be  done  as  follows  :  Fill  a  large  pan, 
a  little  deeper  than  the  packing-box,  with  water.  Make 
a  bed  of  moss  about  half  an  inch  deep  on  the  bot- 
tom of  the  box,  and  sink  the  box  in  the  pan  of  water. 
The  bottom  layer  should  be  a  single  bunch  of  some 
kind  of  the  finer  common  mosses,  which  are  found 
almost  anywhere  in  the  woods.  The  subsequent  lay- 
ers should  be  the  damp  rank  moss  which  grows  in 
swamps,  and  is  known  by  the  name  of  Sphagnum. 
Then  take  the  required  number  of  eggs  from  the 

*  Mr.  Wilmot's  method  of  packing  fish  eggs  is  a  very  excellent 
one.  His  apparatus  consists  of  a  cylindrical  can  of  tin,  say  fifteen 
inches  in  diameter,  having  two  walls  or  sides,  one  within  the 
other,  on  the  refrigerator  principle.  The  annular  space  between 
the  two  walls  is  filled  with  sawdust,  to  preserve  an  even  tempera- 
ture within.  The  cylindrical  space  enclosed  by  the  inner  wall  is 
filled  with  shallow  circular  trays  about  an  inch  deep,  all  of  the 
same  size,  resting  one  upon  another,  and  of  a  sufficient  diameter 
to  fit  nicely  to  the  inner  wall  of  the  can.  Each  one  of  these  shallow 
trays  or  pans  has  a  circular  hole  through  the  centre  to  admit  a 
movable  iron  rod,  which  runs  from  the  top  of  the  can  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  last  pan,  to  which  it  is  fastened.  The  eggs  are  packed 
with  wires  in  the  shallow  pans,  and  each  pan  as  it  is  packed  is 
strung  on  to  the  perpendicular  rod,  as  beads  are  strung  on  a 
string.  The  first  one,  of  course,  going  to  the  bottom  of  the  can, 
the  next  resting  on  it,  and  so  on  till  the  top  of  the  can  is  reached. 
The  upper  end  of  the  rod  now  serves  as  a  handle,  by  which  all 
or  any  number  of  the  pans  can  be  raised  at  once  out  of  the  can, 
and  by  unstringing  the  pans,  so  to  speak,  each  one  with  its  con- 
tents can  be  examined. 


HATCHING   THE   EGGS.  137 

hatching-troughs,*  and  pour  one  layer  evenly  over  the 
moss.f  This  can  be  done  with  a  spoon,  or  still  better, 
perhaps,  as  Green  suggests,  with  a  ladle,  the  mouth 
of  the  ladle  in  pouring  being  made  to  rest  on  the  rim 
of  the  box  under  water,J  so  that  the  eggs  will  not 
come  to  the  air  at  all. 

One  layer  of  eggs  having  been  placed,  put  in  anoth- 
er thin  layer  of  moss.     This  layer,  as  also  the  others 
succeeding  it,  should  be  carefully  picked   over,  and' 
all  grass  and  roots  removed,  so  as  to  make  as  soft 
and  delicate  a  packing  as  possible. 

After  the  second  layer  of  moss,  place  another  layer 
of  eggs,  and  so  on,  alternating  till  the  box  is  filled, 
taking  care  to  keep  the  box  and  to  conduct  all  the 
operations  under  water,  for  it  should  be  always  borne 
in  mind,  when  fish  eggs  are  moved,  that  the  secret  of 
moving  them  correctly  is  to  keep  the  eggs  in  the 
water,  where,  of  course,  they  ought  to  be. 

After  the  top  layer  of  moss  is  placed,  take  the  box 
of  moss  and  eggs  out  of  the  pan,  and  set  it  where  the 

*  Any  strainer  of  convenient  shape  will  do  to  take  out  the 
eggs  with.  If  they  are  much  scattered,  first  collect  them  to- 
gether in  a  heap  with  the  feather.  A  skilful  person  will  take 
them  out  safely  with  a  large  table-spoon. 

t  Theodore  Lyman  recommends  placing  each  layer  of  eggs  in 
a  fold  of  mosquito-netting,  to  keep  them  from  mixing  with  the 
moss,  and  so  facilitate  the  unpacking  of  them.  This  is  a  great 
improvement.  Stationary*  racks  are  also  sometimes  placed 
above  each  layer  to  catch  the  pressure  of  the  supervening  eggs 
and  moss. 

\  All  moving  of  eggs  should  be  done  under  water  when  prac- 
ticable. 


138  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

superfluous  water  will  drip  out  through  the  perforated 
bottom.  If  the  moss  settles  much  with  the  escape  of 
the  water,  fill  up  to  the  top  again  with  moss.  Then, 
when  the  cover  is  soldered  on  in  one  or  two  places, 
to  prevent  displacement,  it  is  ready  to  be  packed  in 
the  pail  of  sawdust,  the  cover  to  which  should  be  kept 
in  its  place  by  being  well  wired  down.  When  the 
label  is  fastened  on,  the  eggs  are  ready  to  be  sent  off. 


CHAPTER   III. 

CARE   OF  ALEVINS  *  OR  TROUT  FRY  WITH  THE 
YOLK   SAC   ATTACHED. 

SOME  morning  when  you  go  to  the  hatching  boxes 
with  the  nippers  to  look  over  the  eggs,  you  will  see 
a  long,  thin,  dark  object,  like  a  little  splinter  of  wood, 
lying  among  the  eggs,  which  you  will  perhaps  attempt 
to  remove  with  the  nippers,  wondering  how  it  came 
there  in  the  night.  The  first  touch  of  the  nippers  will 
show  it  to  be  a  living  creature,  and  you  will  experi- 
ence, if  you  are  a  beginner,  the  exquisite  sensation  of 
knowing  that  your  first  trout  has  hatched.  Soon 
others  will  follow,  only  one  or  two  to  the  thousand  at 
first,  then  more,  till  the  hatching  period  reaches  its 
culmination,  when  the  eggs  will  hatch  in  great  quanti- 
ties daily,  after  which  the  number  will  decline  again 
at  very  nearly  an  inverse  ratio  of  progression.  A 
warm  rain  will  accelerate  the  hatching  very  much,  as 
it  does  every  other  process  of  trout-life.  More,  per- 

*  I  am  aware  that  this  French  word,  "  alevin,"  means  young 
fry  ;  but  as  there  is  no  distinctive  English  word  to  designate  a  fish 
during  the  period  of  the  absorption  of  the  yolk  sac,  and  as  the 
word  has  been  employed  by  at  least  one  English  writer  (Francis, 
Fish  Culture,  p.  99)  in  the  present  application,  though  not,  I 
believe,  by  American  writers,  I  take  the  liberty  to  use  it  in  this 
treatise  to  distinguish  the  trout  fry  with  the  yolk  sac  attached. 


I4O  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

haps,  will  hatch  in  one  day,  during  a  warm  rain,  than 
in  the  three  subsequent  days. 

The  newly  hatched  fish  are  about  half  an  inch  in 
length.  The  yolk  of  the  egg  is  still  attached  to  them, 
from  which  they  are  nourished  by  absorption  till  it  is 
all  gone  and  they  begin  to  feed.  The  period  of  ale- 
vin  life  is  about  two  thirds  or  three  fourths  the  length 
of  the  period  of  incubation. 

Its  duration,  like  that  of  the  egg  period,  depends  on 
the  temperature  of  the  water,  and  it  often  happens,  in 
water  of  a  falling  temperature,  that  the  yolk-sac  period 
lasts  longer  than  it  took  the  eggs  to  hatch. 

On  the  contrary,  with  eggs  hatched  late  in  the 
spring,  as  in  the  natural  brooks,  with  a  rising  tempera- 
ture, the  yolk  sac  remains  on  a  very  short  period  com- 
pared with  the  hatching  of  the  eggs,  —  probably  in 
some  instances  not  one  quarter  of  the  time. 

During  the  period  while  the  young  fish  are  breaking 
the  shell,  the  bottom  of  the  troughs  becomes  quite  un- 
clean from  the  collecting  of  cast-off  shells  and  other 
causes,  and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  use  the  watering-pot 
freely  at  this  time  ;  and  as  soon  as  it  can  be  done 
without  injury  to  the  young  fish,  the  bed  of  the  troughs 
should  be  covered  over  with  a  layer  of  fresh  clean 
gravel. 

The  alevins  lie  quite  still  the  greater  part  of  the  time 
at  first,  sometimes  on  their  sides,  sometimes  flat  on  the 
sac.  Occasionally  they  vary  the  monotony  of  this  quiet 
life  by  aimless  sallies  of  a  few  inches  through  the  water, 
apparently  in  great  excitement,  but  with  no  particular 
goal  in  view.  The  exertion  will  soon  bring  them  to 


CARE   OF   ALEVINS.  14! 

the  ground  again  quite  out  of  breath,  with  their  little 
hearts  beating  very  fast,  as  is  not  surprising,  consider- 
ing their  age,  and  that  they  carry  about  a  burden 
twice  the  bulk  of  their  bodies  proper.  They  require 
no  watching  nor  care  of  any  kind  for  the  first  few  days. 
They  do  not  try  to  get  away,  they  do  not  require  to  be 
fed,  and  if  the  hatching  apparatus  is  well  arranged,  and 
throws  a  good  supply  of  water  over  them,  very  few 
will  die.  Indeed,  the  yolk-sac  period  is  one  of  the 
healthiest  of  the  trout's  early  life. 

They  seem  at  first  to  be  possessed  of  no  particular 
instincts,  but  lie  still  near  the  spot  where  they. were 
born,  and  do  nothing.  This,  however,  lasts  only  a  few 
days.1*  They  are  soon  seized,  sometimes  very  sud- 

*  The  following  notes  are  taken  from  the  writer's  diary,  Janu- 
ary, 1869. 

The  embryos  observed,  were  hatched  from  salmon  eggs 
brought  from  the  Mirimichi  River.  They  were  kept  in  a  warm 
room,  at  a  temperature  that  would  probably  make  one  day  an 
equivalent  of  two  or  three  days  in  the  hatching  trough  at  45°. 

First  day.  Eggs  hatched  to-day.  Young  fish  quite  vigorous. 
Yolk  sac  plump  and  full.  Body  proper,  thin,  and  delicate,  and 
with  cloudy  outline. 

Second  day.  Change  very  slight.  Outline  a  little  more  distinct. 
Body  darker.  Sac  not  quite  so  plump. 

Third  day.  Changes  of  yesterday  slightly  intensified.  Beating 
of  the  heart  very  perceptible.  Main  artery  distinctly  seen. 

Foiirth  day.  Form  of  yolk  sac  decidedly  changed.  Body  firm- 
er and  darker.  Eyes  very  clear.  Motion  of  fins  quite  per- 
ceptible. 

Fifth  day.  Fish  much  livelier.  A  new  movement  of  the  tail 
observed. 

Sixth  day.  Yolk  sac  very  considerably  changed,  and  contract- 
ing towards  a  point  at  the  lower  end.  Other  blood  passages 
clearly  perceptible. 


142  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

denly,  with  a  singular  and  irresistible  instinct  to  hide 
under  something.  If  they  do  not  find  anything  in  the 
troughs  to  get  beneath,  they  all  try  to  hide  under  each 
other. 

From  this  moment  they  are  never  at  rest  day  nor 
night,  but,  gathering  together  in  large  bodies,  will  seek 
some  dark  corner,  and  pass  their  whole  existence  in 
one  incessant  and  ineffectual  struggle  to  get  under 
each  other  and  out  of  sight.  In  this  struggle  they 
crowd  together  in  swarms,  like  bees.  I  have  often  seen 
a  solid  writhing  mass  of  them,  over  half  an  inch  deep, 
which  could  almost  be  covered  with  the  hand,  and 
which  could  not  have  numbered  less  than  ten  thou- 
sand.* 

This  instinct  to  hide  is  so  strong  that  they  will 
dive  head  first,  with  all  their  might,  into  the  gravel, 
and  insinuate  themselves  into  holes  and  chinks  where 
you  would  think  it  impossible  for  anything  to  get, 
and  where  sometimes  they  can  never  get  out  again. 
Then  woe  to  the  little  creatures  if  there  are  chinks 


Seventh  day.  Bodies  acquiring  decidedly  more  solidity.  Sac 
more  pointed. 

Eighth  day.  Fish  decidedly  harder,  darker,  and  firmer  fleshed. 
The  herding-together  instinct  shows  itself  for  the  first  time  to- 
day. 

*  It  has  been  thought  by  some  that  this  crowding  together  is 
hurtful,  but  I  never  knew  a  single  fish  to  be  injured  by  it,  though 
I  have  sometimes  turned  more  than  twenty  th6usand  in  together 
at  this  stage.  Contrary  to  some  authorities,  I  keep  the  alevins 
in  shallow  water  and  a  strong  ripple.  If  they  were  in  deep  water 
with  a  slow  current,  I  think  there  might  be  danger  of  injury  from 
excessive  crowding. 


CARE    OF    ALEVINS.  143 

or  holes  in  the  hatching  troughs  where  they  can  so 
entrap  themselves,  for  they  will  certainly  do  it. 
The  instinct  is  so  ceaseless  that  it  seems  to  drive 
them  on  farther  and.  farther,  without  any  thought 
of  turning  back.  I  have  seen  a  thousand  at  a  time 
white  and  dead  with  suffocation  under  a  pane  of 
glass  in  the  hatching  trough,  whither  this  instinct  had 
pushed  them  on  and  on  to  this  fatal  termination. 
Here  arises  a  serious  objection  to  the  use  of  hatching 
troughs  with  uncemented  glass  linings.  The  glass 
prevents  the  growth  of  fungus  to  some  extent,  it  is  true, 
but  there  is  always  danger  of  the  alevins  getting  un- 
der the  glass  and  becoming  suffocated,  as  in  the  case 
just  mentioned  ;  and  so  invincible  is  their  instinct  to 
do  this,  that  they  will  constantly  try  to  return  under 
the  glass,  even  when  they  are  just  taken  out  white  and 
almost  dead  with  suffocation.  If,  however,  the  reader 
should  happen  to  use  loose  glass  linings,  or  any  lining 
or  hatching  bed  of  any  kind  which  the  young  crea- 
tures can  get  behind  or  under,  he  is  here  cautioned  to 
examine  every  day,  and  see  if  any  are  hidden  in  dan- 
gerous places,  and,  if  so,  to  liberate  them  at  once  It 
is  true  that  after  the  eggs  are  all  hatched  the  linings 
can  be  taken  out,  but  as  this  is  so  difficult  to  do,  with- 
out burying  some  of  the  fish  under  the  gravel,  and  as 
it  also  releases  the  fungus  behind  the  glass  upon  the 
young  trout,  the  remedy  is  almost  as  bad  as  the  dis- 
ease ;  and  besides  this,  it  is  no  remedy  at  all  for  the 
earlier-hatched  alevins,  which  must  necessarily  be  ex- 
posed to  the  danger  some  time  before  the  glass  is 
ready  to  be  taken  out. 


144  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

And  while  the  patent  charcoal  troughs  can  be  had, 
it  is  not  necessary.  This  irresistible  instinct,  which 
drives  the  alevins  past  all  obstacles  to  secure  a  hiding- 
place,  does  not  seem  surprising,  when  we  reflect  that 
it  is  the  only  instinct,  as  well  as  the  only  means  of 
self-preservation,  which  these  very  clumsy  and  perfectly 
helpless  creatures  have  to  protect  themselves  against 
their  myriads  of  enemies. 

Up  to  the  time  when  the  first  half  of  the  yolk-sac 
period  is  passed,  there  is  not  much  danger  of  loss, 
except  from  the  little  creatures'  getting  suffocated  as 
just  described,  because  they  remain  at  or  near  the 
spot  where  they  were  born,  and  do  not  roam  about 
much.  But  after  the  first  half  of  this  stage  is  over,  a 
new  instinct  makes  its  appearance,  and  it  is  accom- 
panied with  a  new  danger,  which  is  both  alarming  and 
insidious.  This  second  instinct  of  the  trout  is  to  fol- 
low a  current  of  water  wherever  they  can  find  it; 
usually,  but  not  always,  following  the  current  up 
stream,  and  diving  into  any  corners,  however  small, 
where  their  delicate  perceptions  detect  the  entrance 
or  exit  of  a  current  of  water.  Then  woe  to  the  trout 
breeder  if  his  troughs  are  not  perfectly  tight !  for  if 
there  is  a  loose  joint  in  the  box,  or  a  nail-hole  or  aper- 
ture under  or  about  the  screen  where  water  comes  in 
or  out,  these  little  creatures  will  be  sure  to  find  it, 
and  one  by  one  will  go  through  it  in  thousands,  even 
if  the  crevice  is  not  much  larger  than  would  admit  a 
snow-flake.  If  a  beginner  were  told  how  small  a 
crevice  a  six  weeks'  trout  will  go  through,  and  has 
gone  through,  he  would  say  it  was  simply  incredible. 


CARE    OF    ALEVINS.  145 

Great  vigilance  is  now  required ;  and  wherever  there 
is  a  suspected  place,  a  fine  wire  screen  should  be 
placed  below  it  to  catch  any  that  escape.  I  'once 
noticed  a  drop  or  two  of  water  trickling  from  the  head 
of  one  of  my  hatching  troughs,  and  immediately  placed 
a  large  screen  under  it.  Two  days  afterwards  I  found 
nearly  a  thousand  young  trout  on  the  screen,  although 
I  did  not  then,  and  could  never  afterwards,  discover  any 
hole  for  them  to  get  through.  The  wire  netting  at  the 
regular  outlet  should  also  be  particularly  watched,  as 
the  constant  cleaning  of  the  screen  wears  out  the  wire, 
and  may  make  a  fracture  in  it  before  it  is  suspected. 

The  trout  at  this  age  are  the  incarnation  of  perver- 
sity. They  will  go  just  the  opposite  way  from  which 
you  want  to  have  them,  and  if  there  is  any  place  where 
you  do  not  want  them  to  go,  they  will  be  sure  to  col- 
lect in  it  in  vast  numbers,  and  when  you  try  to  drive 
them  away  they  will  dive  their  heads  into  the  gravel 
and  stick  to  the  spot  with  a  truly  wonderful  tenacity  ; 
or  if  you  succeed  in  forcing  them  off  a  little  way,  they 
will  return  with'  redoubled  momentum,  and  charge 
again  and  again,  with  a  persistency  which  is  as  sur- 
prising as  it  is  annoying.  As  the  tissue  of  their  struc- 
ture is  such  an  exceedingly  delicate  one  that  they  can- 
not be  pushed  forcibly,  even  with  a  feather,  they  would 
be  very  difficult  to  manage  if  you  wished  to  have  them 
leave  any  particular  spot  where  they  had  gathered, 
were  it  not  for  the  knowledge' of  one  instinct  that  they 
have.  This  instinct  is  to  avoid  agitated  water.  They 
have,  a  great  dislike  to  troubled  waters,  and  will  usually 
leave  with  one  accord  any  spot  where  the  water  is 
7  J 


146  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

violently  disturbed,  and  if  they  have  had  a  good  stirring 
up  will  not  generally  return  to  it  soon  again.  Therefore, 
when  you  wish  to  drive  them  out  of  a  hole  or  corner, 
agitate  the  water  violently  with  a  feather,  or,  better 
yet,  dip  up  a  few  cups  of  water  and  pour  into  the 
corner  from  a  little  height  above.  The  effect  will  be 
magical.  In  a  few  moments  the  place  which  it  might 
have  taken  half  an  hour  to  clear  otherwise  will  be 
willingly  deserted. 

Though  so  very  frail  at  this  stage,  the  alevins  will 
stand  the  cold  wonderfully.  I  have  frozen  them  sev- 
eral times  so  that  they  were  glued  tight  on  to  the  ice 
and  could  not  stir,  and  in  most  instances  it  did  not 
seem  to  hurt  them  at  all.  I  have  taken  pains  to  keep 
these  "  frozen  thaws  "  by  themselves,  where  they  could 
be  watched  for  some  weeks  afterwards.  In  some  in- 
stances they  appeared  as  well  as  any  trout  of  their  age, 
and  showed  no  signs  of  being  injured  by  the  freezing. 

If,  however,  they  are  frightened  while  they  are 
freezing  in  or  thawing  out,  they  will,  in  trying  to 
extricate  themselves  from  their  icy  fetters,  tear  them- 
selves so  that  they  will  afterwards  die. 

Alevins  will  also  live  a  long  while  without  change 
or  aeration  of  the  .water,  if  the  temperature  is  low. 
A  hundred  young  alevins  will  live  a  day  or  two  in  a 
gill  of  water  at  34°,  incredible  as  it  seems.  This  is 
consequently  a  very  favorable  time  to  transport  them. 
As  they  can  stand  the  cold,  you  can,  by  reducing  the 
water  to  a  very  low  temperature  with  ice,  send  them  a 
great  distance  in  small  bulk  without  change  or  aeration 
of  water. 


CARE    OF    ALEVINS.  147 

The  alevins  are  also  very  hardy,  as  respects  general 
causes  of  sickness  or  injury  in  their  every-day  life. 
If  you  have  run  a  good  ripple  of  water  over  the  eggs 
when  hatching,  and  have  kept  it  up  with  the  young  fish 
after  hatching,  your  loss  in  the  yolk-sac  stage  will  be 
very  slight  indeed,  sometimes  almost  nothing. 

A  few  will  die  in  the  act  of  emerging  from  the  shell, 
and  some  will  have  what,  for  want  of  a  better  name, 
might  be  called  the  blue  swelling*  which  is  fatal ;  but 
with  these  exceptions  you  will  lose  very  few  indeed 
from  disease  during  the  yolk-sac  period. 

Some  will  be  born  with  curved  spines,  or  with  two 
heads  or  two  vertebral  columns,  but  they  are  likely  to 
live  until  the  feeding  period.  It  may  be  well  to  add 
here,  that  now  is  the  time  to  collect  any  monstrosities 
that  you  may  wish  to  preserve  in  spirits,  such  as 
double-headed  fish,  double-bodied  fish,  and  the  like. 
The  perfectly  formed  fish  are  the  most  beautiful 
and  most  ciTriously  formed  in  reality ;  but  you  will 
probably  want  to  preserve  some  of  the  misshapen 
freaks  of  nature,  nevertheless,  and  now  is  the  time  to 
do  it.  In  this  instance  there  is  no  cruelty  in  it,  as 
these  deformed  creatures  would  all  die  a  lingering^' 
death  before  long,  if  left  to  themselves.  I  never  knew 
any  of  the  misshapen  fish  to  grow  up,  except  those 
whose  spines,  after  a  curve  or  apparent  joint,  resume, 
or  nearly  resume,  the  original  line  of  the  vertebra. 
These  will  sometimes  grow  up  and  do  well,  even 
where  there  are  two  deflections  or  joints  in  the  back. 
I  sent  one  qf  that  description  to  market  year  before 

*  Green  calls  it  the  "  dropsy." 


148  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

last  that  was  three  years  old,  which,  from  having  a 
dark  skin  and  a  crook  in  his  back,  my  friends  had 
nicknamed  the  "  Black  Crook." 

The  alevin  stage  is,  on  the  whole,  the  easiest  time 
for  the  trout  breeder  of  the  trout's  whole  life  ;  and  if 
everything  is  right  at  the  outset  when  the  eggs  hatch, 
the  alevins  will  be  almost  no  trouble  at  all. 

At  this  stage  there  are  no  eggs  to  pick  over,  no 
mouths  to  feed,  not  much  care  as  to  the  amount  of 
water  supply,  and  none  of  the  anxiety  about  their  lives 
which  comes  a  little  later.  This  rest  in  the  cares 
and  labors  of  the  trout  raiser,  however,  is  only  the  lull 
before  the  storm.  No  sooner  is  this  stage  over,  and 
the  trout  get  well  to  feeding,  than  work  and  danger 
begin  again,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER   IV. 
REARING  THE   YOUNG   FRY. 

SECTION  I.  —  PROGRESS  OF  THE  YOUNG  FRY,  AND 
GENERAL  DIRECTIONS. 

WE  have  now  come  to  the  most  perplexing  and 
the  most  inscrutable  of  all  the  branches  of  trout 
raising,  namely,  growing  the  young  fry.  How  to  hatch 
the  eggs,  which  would  hatch  themselves  if  simply  let 
alone  by  their  enemies,  was  a  problem  comparatively 
easy  in  its  solution,  although  this  was  a  grand  achieve- 
ment at  first,  and  reflects  great  credit  on  those  who 
pioneered  it  through,  the  more  because  it  was  suc- 
cess in  hatching  the  eggs  that  first  popularized  the 
art  of  fish  culture  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
present  wide-spread  interest  in  it.  But  to  make  the 
young  trout  live,  which  have  equally  delicate  and  more 
complex  organizations  than  the  eggs,  to  find  them  the 
food  which  is  wholesome  for  them,  while  it  is  wholly 
artificial,  to  anticipate  wants  which  are  not  even 
known,  to  discover  derangements  of  organs,  when 
the  organs  themselves  are  microscopic,  and  to  avert 
diseases  without  a  glimpse  of  their  causes,  —  in  short, 
to  make  creatures  live,  so  frail  that  a  touch  will  almost 
kill  them,  and  that  seem  to  die  without  a  cause,  —  this 
was  a  field  of  study  apparently  so  obscure  and  intan- 
gible that  it  presented  great  difficulties. 


I5O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

Here  the  triumphant  skill  which  hatched  the  eggs 
successfully  was  baffled ;  and  it  seemed  for  a  time 
as  if  the  wonderful  art  which  had  promised  so  much 
was  to  come  to  a  stand-still  at  this  gulf  between  the 
eggs  and  the  yearling  trout,  a  gulf  which  seemed  as  if 
it  could  not  be  bridged. 

Those  who  made  the  earliest  practical  experiments 
in  this  country  will  undoubtedly  recall,  with  me,  the 
anxiety  which  was  at  one  time  felt  lest  the  difficulties 
of  bridging  this  chasm  would  prove  insurmountable. 
This  task  has,  happily,  now  been  performed.  Rearing 
young  trout  is  no  longer  a  problematical  thing,  it  is  a 
fait  accompli. 

The  question  is  not  now,  Can  young  trout  be  raised  ? 
but  How  many  can  do  it,  and  under  what  circum- 
stances can  it  be  done  successfully? 

As  the  yolk  sac  wears  off,  the  dense  masses  of  little 
alevins  begin  to  separate,  and  assume  a  more  indi- 
vidual existence.  They  seek  to  avoid,  rather  than 
to  crowd,  one  another,  and  their  fins  being  developed 
sufficiently,  they  can  now  rise  and  balance  them- 
selves in  the  water.  The  awkward,  unwieldy  body 
has  acquired  the  graceful,  symmetrical  form  of  a  fish, 
and  each  individual,  taking  a  place  for  himself,  heads 
vigorously  up  stream',  and  soon  shows  by  his  move- 
ments that  he  is  on  the  lookout  for  food. 

I  have  noticed  that  it  is  almost  always  a  matter  of 
anxiety  to  beginners  how  they  will  know  when  it  is 
time  to'  begin  to  feed  the  young  fry.  This  anxiety  is 
wholly  unnecessary,  because  when  the  trout  are  ready 
to  feed,  they  will  let  you  know  it  plainly  enough  by 
taking  the  food  which  you  offer  them. 


REARING   THE   YOUNG    FRY.  15! 

You  need  not  give  yourself  any  trouble  about  the 
matter,  till  you  see  them  all  up  in  the  water,  balancing 
themselves  nicely,  and  heading  bravely  against  the 
current.  If  you  now  throw  in  a  little  food,  or  any 
fine  particles,  indeed,  of  anything  whatever,  they  will, 
if  they  are  ready  to  eat,  instantly  turn  out  of  line  to 
seize  the  particles  floating  by  them. 

If  they  do  this,  you  may  know  that  it  is  time  to 
feed  them.  If  they  pay  no  attention  to  what  they 
see  in  the  water,  let  them  go  for  that  day,  and  try 
them  again  the  next,  and  so  on,  till  they  leave  their 
places  to  snatch  it,  and  from  that  time  feed  them  reg- 
ularly every  day.  Once  will  be  enough  the  first  day, 
twice  the  second,  and,  after  that,  four  times  a  day  for 
two  months.  From  this  time  they  should  be  fed  two 
or  three  times  daily  until  cold  weather.  I  think  the 
best  food  for  them  at  first  is  liver,  and  curd  made 
from  sour  milk,  mixed  in  about  equal  proportions, 
or  still  better,  with  two  parts  liver  and  one  part  curd. 
The  young  fish  at  this  age,  as  may  be  supposed,  can 
take  only  the  finest  particles  of  food.  The  curd, 
therefore,  should  be  made  as  fine  grained  and  moist 
as  possible.  The  liver  should  also  be  reduced  to  the 
smallest  possible  particles.  This  is  accomplished  in 
various  ways,  but  the  way  that  I  have  found  the  most 
satisfactory  and  the  most  expeditious  is  to  grate  the 
liver  on  a  common  tin  lemon-grater  or  cheese-grater. 
You  must  be  careful  to  have  the  holes  small  enough 
at  first  to  admit  only  very  fine  particles ;  they  should 
not  be  over  one  tenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 

The  grater  should  be  placed  horizontally  on  a  piece 


152  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

of  board  or  marble  slab,  and  the  liver  grated  on  it ; 
what  goes  through  will  for  the  most  part  be  fine 
enough  for  the  fish  to  eat.  There  are  other  ways  of 
preparing  the  liver,  I  am  aware;  but  you  can  prepare 
as  much  this  way  in  ten  minutes,  as  by  any  other 
method  that  I  know  of  in  half  an  hour.  It  was  for- 
merly thought  best  to  feed  the  liver  and  curd  to  the 
fish  through  a  small  fine  screen,  so  that  no  particles 
should  fall  to  the  bottom  and  remain  unconsumed 
because  of  being  too  large,  but  since  the  discovery 
of  the  use  of  earth  in  absorbing  the  foul  matter  col- 
lecting on  the  bottom  this  precaution  is  unnecessary ; 
still  there  is  no  objection  to  it,  except  that  it  is  not 
so  simple  and  makes  more  work. 

The  method  of  feeding  adopted  at  the  Cold  Spring 
trout  ponds  is  to  mix  the  curd  and  prepared  liver  on 
a  small  paddle,  say  eighteen  inches  long  and  three 
wide  at  the  blade,  with  a  common  case-knife,  taking 
care  to  pulverize  and  separate  the  particles  with  the 
knife  very  thoroughly.  The  blade  is  then  dipped  in 
the  water  and  the  food  moistened.  It  is  then  mixed 
and  pulverized  still  more  with  the  flat  blade  of  the 
knife,  very  much  as  a  glazier  mixes  putty,  or  a  painter 
his  paint,  on  a  pallet.  When  sufficiently  moistened 
and  separated,  to  prevent  any  adhesion  of  the  parti- 
cles the  paddle  is  again  dipped  in  the  water,  and 
little  by  little  the  food  is  washed  off,  till  the  fish  have 
had  enough.  When  you  first  make  your  appearance, 
the  fish,  whether  from  playfulness  or  from  actual  fear, 
will  dart  away  and  try  to  get  out  of  sight,  but  the 
presence  of  the  food  in  the  water  will  soon  attract 


REARING   THE    YOUNG   FRY.  153 

them  again,  and  they  will  swarm  around  it  from  all 
quarters.  If  you  have  plenty  of  time  and  patience, 
and  not  too  many  fish,  you  can  collect  them  all  in 
one  or  two  places,  by  waiting  for  them  to  come  up ; 
but  if  you  have  a  great  many  and  need  to  be  expedi- 
tious, you  will  probably  resort  to  feeding  more  rapidly 
and  in  several  places.  You  can  begin  feeding,  if  you 
li'.ce,  with  the  yolk  of  eggs,  boiled  a  half-hour  and 
pulverized  very  fine.  This  is  sometimes  more  con- 
venient and  accessible,  when  you  have  only  a  few  fish, 
than  the  liver  and  curd  feed,  and  some  persons  con- 
tinue to  use  the  egg  for  several  months ;  but  this  is 
not  recommended.  It  is  more  expensive,  it  makes 
the  worst  possible  corruption  when  it  does  sink  to  the 
bottom  and  foul  the  water,  and  I  think  it  is  not  so 
wholesome  or  nutritious  as  a  mixed  meat  and  curd 
diet.  Liver  alone  answers  very  well,  but  neither  egg 
nor  curd  alone  will  do.  It  would  be  a  great  improve- 
ment, in  the  way  of  feeding  the  young  fry,  if  you  could 
prepare  some  self-acting  contrivance,  which  would 
feed  out  the  required  amount  of  food  gradually  and 
continually  all  day,  as,  for  instance,  a  closed  box  of 
fine  wire  netting,  partly  filled  with  food  and  placed 
under  a  fall,  in  such  a  way  that  the  water  will  force 
out  the  food,  little  by  little,  all  day.  The  box  should 
be  made  so  that  it  could  be  taken  apart  and  the  net- 
ting thoroughly  washed  and  cleaned  every  day,  as 
otherwise  it  would  soon  become  so  foul  as  to  be 
injurious.  Such  a  contrivance  would  save  a  great 
deal  of  time  and  trouble  in  feeding,  and  seems  to  be 
a  more  natural  and  wholesome  way  than  to  gorge 
7* 


154  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

them  at  intervals  of  three  or  four  hours,  and  keep  them 
in  abstinence  the  rest  of  the  time.  When  the  young 
fry  have  eaten  enough  is  a  question  not  easily  settled, 
although  it  has  been  asked  very  many  times.  I  used  to 
think  that  they  would  not  eat  too  much,  and  I  cannot 
now  say  that  I  ever  knew  of  an  instance  of  a  death 
caused  directly  by  over-eating ;  and,  as  a  general  thing, 
I  still  think  there  is  more  danger  of  not  feeding 
enough,  than  of  feeding  too  much.  On  the  other 
hand,  overfeeding  may  possibly  increase  the  liability 
to  disease,  when  the  fish  are  very  much  crowded.  I 
do  not  believe  that  when  there  is  plenty  of  room  and 
water,  they  will  ever  eat  enough  to  hurt  themselves ; 
but  when  you  have  many  confined  in  a  small  space, 
I  would  advise  the  exercise  of  some  caution  about 
overfeeding. 

The  most  destructive  instance  of  the  ravages  of 
disease  in  my  experience  was  with  the  best-fed  trout 
I  ever  had.  The  contents  of  two  boxes,  twenty  thou- 
sand young  fry,  were  attacked  by  parasites,  which 
swept  them  all  off  in  one  week.  On  Monday  morn- 
ing they  were  the  most  robust  and  best-fed  trout  I 
had  ever  seen  of  their  age,  and  on  Saturday  night  the 
whole  twenty  thousand  were  dead.  No  others  were 
attacked.  I  do  not  know  that  overfeeding  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  appearance  of  the  parasites.  I 
only  mention  the  coincidence  for  the  benefit  of  future 
observers,  and  would  add  that  I  think  that  over- 
crowding the  fish  had  much  more  to  do  with  their 
death  than  overfeeding.  As  a  rule  then,  I  repeat,  you 
need  not  be  afraid  of  the  young  fry's  eating  too  much. 


REARING   THE   YOUNG   FRY.  155 

Their  digestive  organs  are  wonderfully  active,  and 
they  will  digest*  almost  as  fast  as  you  can  feed  them, 
and  you  will  need  a  good  deal  of  patience  to  feed  till 
they  refuse  to  eat.  I  never  knew  any  healthy  young 
fry  of  mine  to  decline  eating  but  once,  and  then  I  had 
them  fed  incessantly  for  two  hours,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  they  gave  up  beaten.  The  young  fry  will 
repay  you  well  for  feeding  them  well,  for  there  is 
hardly  any  creature  which  shows  the  effects  of  good 
feeding  so  quickly  and  strikingly  as  young  trout.  They 
appear  sometimes  to  grow,  almost  like  flies,  on  ample 
allowance,  and  one  or  two  good  meals  will  make  a 
hungry  young  trout  seem  to  double  his  bulk,  and  this 
is  not  wholly  an  illusion  either.  But  although  they 
are  not  likely  to  eat  too  much,  they  will  not  only  at 
this  age,  but  at  all  ages,  take  too  large  pieces  of  food  at 
a  time,  and  will  sometimes  kill  themselves  in  this  way. 
When  you  find  a  trout  dead,  with  his  head  much 
swollen  laterally,  and  both  eyes  forced  outwards,  you 
may  know  that  he  killed  himself  by  bolting  his  food. 

We  have  said  nothing  so  far  in  this  chapter  about 
removing  the  young  fry  from  the  hatching  troughs, 
and,  indeed,  this  removal  is  not  necessary  for  a  week 
or  two.  The  young  fry  will  do  as  well  in  the  hatch- 
ing troughs,  if  the  water  is  raised  an  inch  or  two,  as 
anywhere  else  at  first,  but  they  must  be  thinned  out 
very  soon  after  they  begin  to  feed.  If  you  engage  in 

*  Bertram  compares  the  digestion  of  some  fishes'  stomachs  to 
the  action  of  fire.  Harvest  of  the  Sea,  p. 

Lyman  says  of  pickerel,  that  they  are  "  mere  machines  for  the 
assimilation  of  other  organisms."  Mass.  Fisheries,  Report, 
1871,  p.  17. 


156  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

the  business  of  selling  young  fry,  this  thinning  out  will 
come  naturally  in  the  course  of  your  sales,  and  will 
need  no  special  attention  ;  but  if  you  do  not  sell  them 
off,  you  must  take  out  enough  from  each  box  or 
trough  to  leave  only  a  safe  number  together.  The 
number  which  it  is  safe  to  leave  in  a  given  space 
you  must  learn  by  experience,  as  so  much  depends 
upon  the  water  supply,  the  character  and  temperature 
of  the  water,  and  other  circumstances,  that  the  number 
cannot  be  set  with  much  definiteness  for  all  places. 
You  need  not,  however,  be  afraid  to  keep  two  hun- 
dred to  the  square  foot,  if  they  are  shaded,  till  the  first 
of  May.  By  that  time  they  will  be  ready  for  their 
summer  quarters.  You  will  notice  that  the  young 
fry  in  the  troughs,  soon  after  beginning  to  feed,  will 
seem  to  divide  into  two  bodies,  one  consisting  of  the 
larger  and  stronger  ones,  at  the  head  of  the  trough 
just  below  the  fall,  and  the  other  consisting  of  the 
smaller  and  weaker  ones  settling  down  towards  the 
outlet  screen. 

The  division  into  these  two  classes  will  be  main- 
tained with  more  or  less  distinctness  through  the  year 
and  afterwards.  The  cause  of  the  separation  is,  that 
some  are  really  weaker  and  smaller  than  others,  and 
these  will  avoid  the  more  violent  water  and  the  pres- 
ence of  the  larger  ones,  who  would  drive  them  away 
if  they  tried  to  stay  with  them.  This  division  of  the 
two  classes  becomes  more  marked  as  they  get  a  little 
older,  because  the  weaker  ones  are  driven  back  and 
are  obliged  to  take  the  food,  the  water,  and  the  range 
that  is  left  them  by  their  superiors,  who  are  all  the 


REARING   THE   YOUNG    FRY. 


time  getting  the  lion's  share  of  everything.  The  effect, 
of  course,  is  to  increase  the  contrast  more  and  more 
every  day.  This  effect  can,  however,  be  offset,  in  some 
degree,  by  taking  pains  to  give  better  care  and  feed 
to  the  lower  ones,  and  this  should  always  be  done. 
Indeed,  by  feeding  the  lower  ones  more  than  usual, 
and  neglecting  the  upper  ones,  you  can  bring  them 
somewhat  together  in  point  of  locality,  though  never 
in  point  of  size.  I  think  that  it  is  also  a  good  way 
to  take  out  all  the  lower  division,  and  put  them  in  an 
enclosure  by  themselves.  They  will  never  be  as  large 
fish  as  the  others,  but  they  will  then,  at  any  rate,  be 
freed  from  the  tyranny  of  the  larger  ones,  and  will  im- 
prove correspondingly. 

You  may  notice,  too,  that  sometimes  some  of  the 
lower  young  fry  get  against  the  screens,  and  perhaps 
die  from  the  effect  of  it.  There  is  no  need  whatever  of 
this.  If  xhcv  get  against  the  screens,  it  is  because 
they  are  weak,  .<rd  you  may  know  that  their  weakness 
has  come  either  ti'om  their  being  too  much  crowded, 
too  little  fed,  or  from  being  actually  sick.  The  remedy 
for  the  first  and  second  is  obvious  ;  and  the  third  case 
ought  not  to  have  occurred  ;  but  in  all  three  cases 
more  feeding  will  bring  them  up.  They  are  weak,  and 
need  to  be  fed  to  be  made  strong  again.  Therefore, 
when  the  little  creatures  get  against  the  screens,  or 
show  a  tendency  that  way,  feed  them  more,  and  con- 
tinue doing  so  till  they  come  up  strong  again.  Do 
not  turn  down  the  water,  as  is  sometimes  done,  when 
they  are  weak  and  get  against  the  screens,  for  this 
only  makes  them  weaker  ;  but  keep  the  water  on,  un- 


158  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

less  it  was  too  violent  to  begin  with,  and  make  the 
fish  come  up  against  it  by  feeding,  which  they  will 
do  if  not  sick  or  too  crowded. 

There  is  a  little  trick  which  should  be  practised  on 
them  when  they  show  this  tendency  to  collect  too 
much  at  the  lower  screen.  It  is  well  known  that  trout 
seek  the  deeper  places  and  darker  bottoms  of  any 
shallow  stream.  By  taking  advantage  of  this  instinct, 
you  can  make  most  of  your  trout  stay  where  you  wish  ; 
so  when  they  collect  too  far  down  the  trough,  fill  up 
the  lower  end  about  half  an  inch  or  an  inch  deep 
for  a  foot  or  so  from  the  screen  with  light-colored 
sand.  This  will  make  the  water  more  shallow  here, 
and  the  bed  of  the  trough  of  a  lighter  shade,  and  the 
fish  will  abandon  it  at  once  for  deeper  and  darker 
places  farther  up  stream.  The  force  of  the  current 
is  now,  of  course,  increased  near  the  outlet  by  this 
change,  and  an  inexperienced  person  might  suppose 
that  if  the  young  fry  were  collected  down  near  the 
screen  in  slow  water,  they  would  be  carried  down 
much  more  by  swift  water.  But  this  is  an  error.  If 
the  fish  are  not  sick,  their  desire  to  get  out  of  the 
shallow,  exposed  place  will  make  them  stem  the  cur- 
rent till  they  find  a  place  above  it  less  objectionable 
to  them.  The  worst  possible  thing  you  can  do,  if  you 
want  to  keep  the  young  fry  away  from  the  screens,  is 
to  make  the  water  slower  by  deepening  it  at  the 
screen.  It  has  just  the  opposite  effect  from  that  which 
is  sought. 

For  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  after  beginning  to 
feed,  —  we  are  now  supposing  that  the  young  trout 


REARING    THE    YOUNG    FRY.  159 

remain  in  the  hatching  troughs, — the  appearance  of 
things  is  very  bright.  Indeed,  there  is  no  more  hope- 
ful time  in  the  trout  breeder's  year  than  that  when  the 
young  fish  just  get  to  feeding  well.  The  dangers  and 
hardships  of  the  long  winter's  hatching  are  over.  He 
has  a  fine  lot  of  healthy,  thriving  trout.  They  feed 
well,  they  look  well,  and  do  not  show  a  sign  of  a  pos- 
sibility of  their  dying.  Everything  goes  on  swim- 
mingly, and  unless  he  is  more  than  human,  or  less,  he 
will  invariably  draw  the  nattering  picture  to  himself 
of  what  these  thousands  of  tiny  things  will  be  three 
summers  hence,  each  weighing  a  half-pound  apiece  or 
more.  It  is  certainly  an  elating  prospect. 

But  behold,  at  the  end  of  about  three  weeks,  an  ap- 
palling change  comes  over  this  happy  vision.  It  comes 
on  very  unobtrusively  in  the  beginning,  and  the  first 
sign  of  it  which  you  discover  is  merely  the  gathering 
of  two  or  three  fish  in  a  corner  where  the  water  is 
stiller  than  the  rest.  On  examination,  you  observe 
nothing  unusual  about  them,  except  that,  to  use  an 
expressive  Dutch-Americanism,  they  appear  "  logy,"* 
avoid  the  running  water,  and  eat  languidly,  or  per- 
haps do  not  eat  at  all.  This  seems  a  very  trifling 
circumstance  ;  but  to  an  experienced  eye  it  is  start- 
lingly  significant,  for  it  is  sure  to  be  the  forerunner 
of  wholesale  disaster.  The  next  day  the  number  of 
disaffected  ones  will  be  increased  to  a  dozen,  perhaps, 
and  very  likely  some  of  them  will  be  heading  down 
stream.  This  number  will  steadily  increase.  Soon 
they  will  begin  to  drop  down  dead,  by  ones  and  twos 
*  From  the  Dutch  log,  dull,  stupid. 


l6o  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

at  first,  and  then  by  dozens,  then  by  hundreds,  and, 
unless  some  remedy  is  applied,  seventy-five  per  cent 
will  die  the  next  month,  and  perhaps  all ;  and  many  of 
them  —  we  are  still  supposing  that  they  have  remained 
in  the  hatching  troughs  —  will  have  a  little  round  ulcer 
just  on  the  top  of  the  skull,  which,  when  pricked,  will 
discharge  a  thin,  watery  fluid.  This  is  the  stage,  I  take 
it,  where  Green's  book  says  of  their  dying,  that  the 
cause  is  not  known,  nor  the  remedy.  I  must  disagree 
with  him.  The  cause  is  known,  and  the  remedy  is 
known  also.  The  cause  of  this  mortality  is  twofold. 
In  the  first  place,  the  food  which  has  been  given  them 
has  to  some  extent,  however  carefully  it  may  have 
been  fed  out  to  them,  fallen  to  the  bottom,  and  has 
formed  a  thin  layer  over  the  gravel,  which  has  now 
had  time  to  become  putrescent  and  has  fouled  the 
water  with  its  exhalations. 

In  the  second  place,  the  diet  upon  which  the  fish 
have  been  kept,  although  the  best  known  and  very  nu- 
tritious, is  deficient  in  some  element  indispensable  to 
the  health  of  the  trout.  It  is  like  the  experiment  of 
feeding  the  dog  wholly  on  olive  oil, — the  most  nutri- 
tious thing  in  the  world,  —  but  which  soon  brings  on 
an  ulcerating  disease  that  kills  him  in  not  many  weeks. 
The  remedy  for  both  these  causes  of  disease  is  the  free 
application  of  common  earth,  and  it  is  a  certain  and 
effective  one. 

I  was  led  to  this  discovery  somewhat  in  this  way  : 
I  found  my  young  fry  dying  by  thousands,  as  just 
described,  and  those  that  were  left  losing  their  appe- 
tites and  avoiding  the  current.  I  felt  sure  that  the 


REARING    THE    YOUNG    FRY.  l6l 

fine,  thin  film  of  mouldy  matter  which  could  be  seen 
on  the  bottom  was  fouling  the  water,  and  I  removed 
the  fish  to  clean  the  troughs.  This  revived  them  some- 
what, and  they  began  to  eat  again,  but  they  lacked 
their  natural  vivacity  and  looked  lank  and  ill-favored. 
I  then  began  to  reflect  carefully  on  the  matter,  and  it 
occurred  to  me  that  their  artificial  food  might  be  want- 
ing in  some  tonic  element,  indispensable  to  health, 
and  that  liver  and  curd  and  nothing  else  might  be  to 
trout  what  olive  oil  and  nothing  else  was  to  the  dog. 
The  symptoms  certainly  indicated  it. 

I  might  have  got  no  farther,  but  I  noticed  that  some 
of  the  young  fry,  which  by  accident  happened  to  be 
where  the  mud  was  occasionally  disturbed,  did  better 
and  appeared  thrifty.  I  also  remembered  that  the  wild 
trout  in  the  natural  brooks  are  never  so  lively  and 
voracious  as  just  after  the  streams  have  been  mud- 
died by  a  shower.  Then  it  suddenly  flashed  upon 
me,  that  mud  or  earth,  with  its  multiplicity  of  constitu- 
ents, might  possibly  contain  the  deficient  element. 
At  the  same  time,  I  remembered  the  great  absorbing 
power  of  earth,  which  might  perhaps  absorb  the  foul 
exhalations  from  the  bottom,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
supplied  the  needed  tonic. 

I  shared  the  common  prejudice  against  muddying 
the  water  where  the  trout  were  ;  but  the  crisis  was  an 
imperative  one,  and  I  determined  to  solve  the  problem. 
I  poured  in  earth,  enough  to  cover  the  bottom  half  an 
inch,  making  the  water  so  thick  with  mud  that  every 
fish  was  obscured  with  it.  I  watched  anxiously  for 
the  water  to  clear,  to  see  how  they  came  out  of  it. 

K 


1 62  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

The  effect  was  magical.  It  had  revived  the  mall.  A 
change  for  the  better  was  decidedly  noticeable  at  once. 
In  twenty-four  hours  the  sick  ones  were  nearly  them- 
selves again,  and  in  two  days  they  were  all  better  fish 
than  they  ever  were  before. 

On  another  occasion  large  numbers  of  my  young 
fry  had  become  sickly  and  were  failing  rapidly.  They 
had  begun  to  collect  against  the  screens,  and  there 
was  evidently  a  bad  time  coming  very  soon.  This  was 
on  the  5th  of  March.  This  time  they  had  been  feed- 
ing only  about  two  weeks.  I  applied  the  earth  plen- 
tifully, with  th£  same  effect  as  before.  On  the  yth 
they  were  much  improved.  On  the  8th  they  were  all 
well  again  and  off  the  screens.  Earth  or  mud  is  the 
last  thing  one  would  suppose  suitable  for  a  fish,  so 
associated  in  our  minds  with  pure,  clean  water ;  yet  it 
is  an  indispensable  constituent  in  the  diet  of  young 
trout,  and  unless  they  get  it,  either  naturally  or  artifi- 
cially, they  will  not  thrive.  I  repeat  once  more,  we 
are  supposing  the  young  fry  to  be  in  the  hatching 
troughs  still,  and  supplied  with  water  from  the  spring. 
Of  course,  if  they  are  nourished  with  brook-water, 
which  brings  down  more  or  less  mud  with  it,  this  dis- 
ease will  not  break  out,  and  the  fish  will  not  require 
the  artificial  introduction  of  earth  ;  but  they  must  get 
it  in  some  way,  and  unless  it  is  already  in  the  water, 
it  must  be  furnished  artificially,  or  the  fish  will  lan- 
guish.* 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  what  kind  of  earth  is  the 

*  I  have  sometimes  found  the  stomach  of  a  wild  trout  nearly 
half  full  of  gravel. 


REARING   THE    YOUNG    FRY.  163 

best,  but  I  think  that  the  earth  from  just  under  a  toler- 
ably rich  sod  is  as  good  as  any,  if  not  better.  It  is  a 
v?ery  good  way  to  put  the  whole  sod  in  the  trough  or 
box.  The  fish  will  get  off  of  it  what  they  want,  and 
the  presence  of  the  vegetable  growth  in  the  water  is 
favorable  to  their  health. 

Muck  I  have  sometimes  thought  the  best,  and  it  is  said 
to  be  the  most  powerfuUof  earth  absorbents,  but  I  have 
also  had  misgivings  that  the  muck  sometimes  had 
something  injurious  in  it.  It  may  be  only  a  fancy, 
however.  At  all  events,  the  earth  just  under  a  fresh 
green  sod  answers  the  purpose,  and  is  good  and  whole- 
some. The  application  of  the  earth  should  be  renewed 
as  often  as  the  fish  seem  to  require  it,  and,  indeed,  it  is 
best  not  to  wait  till  they  show  signs  of  wanting  it,  but 
to  give  it  to  them  often,  and  keep  sods  in  all  the  time ; 
and  whenever  you  perceive  anything  in  the  troughs 
that  is  likely  to  foul  the  water,  throw  a  handful  of  earth 
over  it. 

If  you  have  a  pride  in  keeping  a  clean  gravelly  bed 
to  your  troughs,  you  can  cover  over  the  earth,  after  a 
day  or  so,  with  clean  gravel,  and  it  will  look  as  well  as 
before  ;  but  you  must  give  them  earth  again  soon. 

As  the  spring  advances  the  young  fry  will  continue 
to  grow,  and  one  day's  routine  in  taking  care  of  them 
will  be  very  much  like  another  through  the  summer. 
This  does  not  imply,  however,  that  the  work  is  mo- 
notonous or  dull.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  exceedingly 
interesting,  and  the  more  closely  you  observe  them  the 
more  interesting  the  care  of  them  becomes.  You  will 
learn  to  distinguish  individuals  from  one  another,  and 


164  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

to  notice  individual  peculiarities  ;  and  it  will  be  a  source 
of  great  pleasure  to  see  them  growing  daily  in  strength 
and  stature,  and  taking  on  by  almost  imperceptible 
degrees  the  ways  and  appearance  of  mature  trout. 
Indeed,  you  cannot  spend  an  hour  or  so  a  week  more 
profitably  than  by  studying  the  little  fellows  minutely, 
with  your  eyes  as  close  to  the  surface  of  the  water  as 
you  can  get.  This  is  the  way<  to  study  them  ;  and  if 
you  want  to  obtain  an  insight  into  the  nature  of  trout, 
and  have  signal  success  in  raising  them,  this  is  the 
thing  to  do. 

The  young  fry  in  their  growth  probably  will  not 
keep  pace  with  your  wishes  at  first.  Still  they  are 
really  growing  rapidly,  and  if  their  apparently  slow 
progress  makes  you  impatient,  take  out  one  of  them 
any  time  in  the  summer  and  compare  it  with  one  of 
your  preserved  specimens  of  a  day  old.  You  will  be 
gratified  with  the  contrast,  and  will  see  that  they  have 
doubled  their  size  many  times  over,  though  they  had 
appeared  to  remain  nearly  stationary.  They  are  also 
getting  their  flesh  hard  and  solid,  as  you  may  see  by 
taking  out  a  four  weeks'  trout  on  a  piece  of  board  or 
glass  and  letting  it  dry,  and  doing  the  same  again  in 
the  summer  with  a  six  months'  trout.  The  first  speci- 
men will  leave  hardly  more  than  an  impression  of  the 
fish's  form,  as  thin  as  tissue.  The  second  will  show 
solidity  as  well  as  figure. 

The  young  fry  will  continue  to  grow  and  require 
more  food  until  winter  sets  in.  In  the  mean  while 
they  will  demand  constant  watching  and  care,  the 
nature  of  which  will  be  described  more  fully  in  the 


REARING   THE    YOUNG    FRY.  165 

next  chapter,  and  also  in  the  one  on  the  diseases  of 
young  trout. 

SECTION   II.  —  WHAT  TO  DO  TO  MAKE  YOUNG 
TROUT  LIVE. 

i.  Have  healthy,  well-fed  breeders.  When  a  young 
trout  drops  down  dead  during  the  first  few  months  of 
his  life,  a  beginner  is  apt  to  think  that  the  cause  origi- 
nated the  same  day  or  the  same  week,  which  is  as 
unphilosophical  as  to  suppose  that  deaths  among  the 
human  race,  resulting  from  feeble  constitutions  or 
hereditary  consumption,  were  caused  by  something 
that  happened  the  day  or  the  week  on  which  the  death 
occurred. 

To  discover  and  remove  the  causes  of  death  among 
young  trout,  we  must  go  back  of  the  young  fish's  life, 
back  of  the  eggs  themselves,  to  the  breeders  which 
produced  the  eggs.  This  is  self-evident,  and  yet  it  is 
often  overlooked.  In  order  to  have  healthy  fry,  you 
must  have  healthy  eggs.  To  secure  healthy  eggs,  you 
must  have  healthy,  well-fed  breeders.  The  progeny  of 
puny,  half-starved,  half-suffocated  fish  cannot  be  as 
strong  and  healthy  as  those  of  well-grown,  well-fed  fish, 
with  plenty  of  range  and  water.  Therefore,  if  you 
want  your  young  trout  to  live,  give  your  breeders  a 
good  supply  of  water,  feed  them  well  and  regularly, 
and  keep  them  in  good  condition,  especially  from  May 
to  November. 

Large  eggs,  on  the  whole,  are  better  than  small  ones. 
They  produce  larger  fish ;  and,  other  things  being  equal, 


1 66  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

the  larger  fry,  it  is  observed,  thrive  better  than  the 
smaller  ones. 

Now  the  secret  of  getting  large  eggs  is  not  to  use 
large-sized  breeders,  for  a  two-pound  brook  trout  pro- 
duces no  larger  eggs  than  a  half-pound  brook  trout, 
though  they  are  more  in  number.  Large  eggs  are  the 
result  of  keeping  the  breeders  in  water  that  warms 
up  in  the  spring  and  summer.  It  is  true,  if  it  becomes 
too  warm,  say  above  70°,  it  is  injurious ;  but  water 
that  stands  at  65°  in  the  summer  will  make  larger 
eggs  than  water  at  55°,  and  very  cold  spring  water, 
say  at  45°,  will  always  develop  small  eggs.  The  rea- 
son is  obvious.  We  know  the  rule  is  throughout  the 
animal  kingdom,  that  warmth,  when  not  extreme,  fa- 
vors growth,  and  as  the  temperature  of  the  fish's 
body  corresponds  to  the  temperature  of  the  water,*  it 
naturally  results  that  the  eggs  developed  in  the  warmth 
of  65°  will  be  larger  than  those  developed  at  the  cold 
point  of  45°. 

2.  Develop  strong  and  healthy  embryos  in  the  egg. 
You  must  not  suppose,  when  you  find  your  trout  dy- 
ing in  April  and  May,  that  the  mortality  is  necessarily 
caused  by  something  that  has  happened  since  they 
hatched.  The  causes  may  date  back  half-way  through 
the  period  of  incubation  or  more.  I  have  seen  trout 
embryos  with  the  eye-spots  just  appearing,  which  I 
knew  could  not  live  three  months  after  coming  out, 
although  they  hatched  like  other  eggs,  and  seemed  like 

*  The  temperature  of  the  fish's  body  follows  the  temperature 
of  the  surrounding  water,  but  keeps  a  little,  perhaps  two  de- 
grees, above  it. 


REARING    THE    YOUNG    FRY.  l6/ 

other  trout  for  weeks.  The  reason  was,  that  they  were 
sickly  and  feeble  embryos,  which  had  not  vitality 
enough  in  them  to  grow  up. 

In  order  to  have  strong  and  healthy  trout  that  will 
live,  you  must  have  strong  and  healthy  embryos  to 
begin  with.  This  is  so  obvious,  that  it  seems  trivial  to 
mention  it.  Yet  I  have  seen  persons  treat  eggs  in 
such  a  way  that  the  fish  from  them  could  not  possibly 
live  to  grow  up,  and  wonder  three  months  afterwards 
what  made  them  die.  To  insure  strong  and  hardy 
embryos,  the  suggestions  in  the  chapter  on  hatching 
eggs  should  be  carefully  observed.  The  eggs  should 
not  be  crowded  too  much.  They  should  have  plenty 
of  water,  though  not  too  much,  running  over  them. 
This  water  should  be  in  constant  circulation.  The 
two  kinds  of  fungus,  alga  and  byssus,  should  be  abso- 
lutely excluded.  All  sediment  should  be  kept  from 
the  eggs,  and,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  they  should  be 
hatched  in  the  dark.  If  you  observe  these  rules,  you 
will  have  strong  and  healthy  trout  from  your  eggs,  and 
of  these  rules  I  should  say  that  the  most  important 
are,  to  avoid  fungus  and  still  water. 

3.  Provide  a  suitable  place  for  the  young  fry  when 
they  begin  to  feed.  We  remarked  that  the  hatching 
troughs  would  do  very  well  for  the  young  trout  for 
the  first  few  weeks  after  feeding.  This  is  true,  if  the 
fish  are  thinned  out  sufficiently,  and  a  clean  layer  of 
gravel  or  sand  put  over  the  winter  hatching  bed  ;  but 
the  hatching  troughs  are  not  favorable  to  growth,  and 
usually  are  not  so  convenient  for  feeding  as  other 
places  in  which  the  fish  might  be  kept.  It  is  therefore 


l68  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

desirable  to  change  them  before  summer,  and  it  is  very 
important  to  put  them  in  a  suitable  place  when  they 
are  changed ;  and  to  effect  this  the  following  points 
should  be  secured,  namely  :  — 

The  young  trout,  when  removed  from  the  hatching 
troughs,  should  be  kept,  — 

Where  they  will  feed  well. 

Where  they  will  be  safe  from  their  natural  enemies. 

Where  nothing  can  get  in  and  nothing  can  get  out. 

Where  no  fungus  can  come  to  them. 

Where  the  water  cannot  run  over. 

Where  they  cannot  remain  permanently  out  of  sight. 

Where  the  water  supply  cannot  be  cut  off  by  accident. 

Where  the  fish  can  have  new,  unused  water. 

Where  they  can  find  shade. 

Where  there  is  plenty  of  room. 

The  first  six  points  were  fully  unfolded  in  the  chap- 
ter on  rearing  boxes ;  so  I  will  here  simply  refer  the 
reader  to  that  chapter,  and  pass  on  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  remaining  points. 

It  is  essential  that  the  young  fry  be  kept  where  there 
is  no  possibility  of  the  water  supply  being  cut  off,  even 
by  the  most  unexpected  accident.  It  is  fat  possibility 
that  you  want  to  guard  against,  not  the  probability. 
My  excuse  for  mentioning  so  obvious  a  principle  is, 
that  persons  are  so  careless  about  this  very  thing. 
Though  they  may  have  expended  hundreds  of  dollars 
to  get  their  fish  where  they  are,  and  have  taken  pains 
to  have  everything  else  safe,  they  will  sometimes 
leave  a  faucet  or  a  spout  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  quite 
possible  for  some  accident  to  close  the  faucet  or  mis- 


REARING  THE   YOUNG  FRY.  169 

place  the  spout,  and  cut  off  the  whole  supply  of  water 
from  the  fish  below. 

I  recall  now  several  instances  in  which  most  disas- 
trous results  have  been  so  caused.  This  point  is  the 
more  important,  because  the  consequences  of  neglect 
are  so  very  fatal ;  in  the  hot  weather,  when  the  young 
fry  are  being  raised,  two  hours  without  change  of  water 
being  often  sufficient  to  kill  a  whole  box  or  pond  full. 

They  should  be  kept  where  new,  unused  water  will 
run  over  them.  This  is  very  important.  At  first, 
when  they  begin  to  feed,  the  effete  matter  coming 
from  them  is  very  slight  in  quantity,  and  harmless  ;  but 
it  rapidly  increases  with  the  growth  of  the  fish,  and 
becomes  a  prolific  source  of  impurity  and  disease,  as 
can  be  easily  comprehended  when  it  is  considered 
what  the  amount  must  be  from  one  thousand  to  ten 
thousand  fish  feeding  almost  hourly. 

The  water,  therefore,  that  is  used  for  the  nursery, 
should  be  fresh  from  the  spring  or  brook,  and  should 
not  be  that  which  has  run  over  other  trout  above,  un 
less  the  stream  has  run  far  enough  to  purify  itself. 

The  place  in  which  they  are  kept  should  be  well 
shaded.  Sunlight  fosters  the  growth  of  fungi  and  con- 
fervas, and  predisposes  the  young  fish  to  some  of  the 
diseases  to  which  they  are  subject ;  and  when  disease 
breaks  out  it  makes  bad  matters  worse.  The  young 
fry  should  be  therefore  guarded  against  it,  as  well  as 
the  eggs.  Shade  never  killed  a  trout  yet,  young  or 
old.  Sunlight  has  killed  a  great  many.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  trout  often  come  out  voluntarily  into  the 
sun,  but  they  should  nevertheless  always  be  placed  so 
8 


DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

that  they  can  take  their  choice,  and  not  be  obliged  to 
stay  in  the  sun  because  there  is  no  shade. 

Their  place  of  confinement  must  not  be  too  much 
crowded.  Be  very  careful  to  guard  against  this,  and 
do  it  in  season.  It  is  very  injurious  to  keep  young 
trout  too  close  together.  They  will  not  grow  as  well. 
The  water  breathed  over  so  many  times  becomes  vi- 
tiated ;  the  foul  matter  thrown  off  by  the  fish  in- 
creases the  evil ;  and  in  time  disease  will  break  out 
among  them,  and  rage  all  the  worse  because  of  the 
very  thing  that  caused  it,  namely,  the  overcrowding. 

Anything  which  combines  all  the  points  above  men- 
tioned will  answer  for  a  nursery  for  the  young  fry,  wheth- 
er it  is  a  pond,  or  trough,  or  rearing  box,  or  what  not. 

I  recommend  the  use  of  a  rearing  box,  because  it 
does  embrace  these  points.  Anything  else  that  does 
will  answer  as  well,  but  it  will  be  a  rearing  box  still, 
either  on  a  large  scale  or  a  small  one.  It  is  the  com- 
bination of  principles  which  makes  the  rearing  box, 
and  not  its  name,  or  form,  or  material.  It  should  be 
added  here,  that  is  a  good  plan  to  keep  water  plants* 
in  the  nurseries  of  young  fish.  I  will  not  say  that  it 
is  indispensable,  but  I  think  it  is  very  important  in- 
deed. 

Trout  consume  oxygen,  and  return  carbon.  Water- 
plants  consume  carbon,  and  return  oxygen.  By  put- 
ting plants  and  fish  together,  therefore,  we  avail  our- 
selves of  one  of  nature's  great  universal  agencies  in 
balancing  vital  forces  against  each  other,  and  main- 

*  For  list  of  water  plants  suitable  for  trout  ponds,  see  Appen- 
dix III.  p.  275. 


REARING   THE   YOUNG   FRY.  17! 

taining  the  equilibrium  on  which  the  continuance  of 
organic  life  depends.1*  This  is  a  good  a  priori  reason 
in  itself.  Besides  this,  we  have  the  facts  that  the  plants 
do  in  practice  improve  the  water,  prevent  disease,  give 
shelter  to  the  young  fry,  and  furnish  more  or  less  nat- 
ural food  for  them.  They  also  absorb  much  of  the 
feculence  of  the  fish  for  nutriment! 

The  larger  the  young  fry  grow,  the  larger  the  place 
they  can  be  trusted  in ;  and  it  is  never  desirable  to  keep 
them  in  a  smaller  place  than  perfect  safety  requires  ;  for 
the  more  range  they  have,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
better  they  will  do.  Accordingly,  as  they  continue  to 
grow,  increase  their  range,  and  by  the  ist  of  Septem- 
ber or  a  little  later,  when  they  take  their  food  like  old 
trout,  that  is,  spring  for  it  from  their  lair  and  whirl, 
they  can  be  put  into  a  pond  suitable  for  larger  trout, 
and  treated  very  much  as  the  larger  trout  are  treated. 
By  this  time  they  are  much  hardier,  and  less  suscep- 
tible to  invisible  sources  of  injury ;  they  do  not  stay 
away  alone  and  get  lost,  they  are  better  able  to  take 
care  of  themselves ;  you  can  throw  them  their  food 
very  much  as  you  do  the  larger  fish,  and  they  can 

*  Self-preserving  aquaria  have  been  contrived  by  lining  the 
sides  and  bottom  of  a  tank  with  the  most  oxygen-giving  water 
plants,  so  that  the  fish  (not  trout]  confined  in  them  have  lived 
without  a  change  of  water.  I  am  told  by  a  gentleman  who  has 
had  experience  with  Barnum's  aquaria,  that  the  fish  kept  in  these 
self-preserving  tanks  without  change  of  water  thrived  better 
than  those  in  the  ordinary  tanks  which  had  water  running  through 
them  all  the  time. 

t  The  introduction  of  fresh-water  snails  accomplishes  the  same 
end,  but  snails  are  destructive  to  fish  eggs  and  very  young  fish. 


1/2  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

be  trusted  in  a  trout  pond  proper.  The  pond,  how- 
ver,  must  be  covered,  and  the  fish  must  still  be  pro- 
tected from  rats,  minks,  snakes,  and  especially  herons 
and  kingfishers,  which  will  destroy  great  quantities  of 
them,  if  allowed  to. 

4.  Take  good  care  of  the  fish.  Now,  having  bred 
from  a  healthy  stock,  and  having  developed  strong, 
healthy  embryos,  and  having  provided  a  suitable  place 
for  the  young  fry,  only  one  thing  more  is  required  for 
success,  and  that  is  to  take  good  care  of  them. 

If  you  take  good  care  of  trout,  I  think  there  are 
ninety  chances  in  a  hundred  that  you  will  raise  them. 
I  know  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  scepticism  (I  beg 
the  reader  to  excuse  the  digression  which  follows) 
about  the  practicability  of  keeping  young  fry  alive 
through  the  first  six  months  of  feeding,  and  I  am 
aware  that  some  of  the  best  authorities  say  that  a  con- 
siderable percentage  will  die  unavoidably  during  that 
time.  Mr.  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth,  in  a  letter  to  the 
writer,  once  said  that  a  considerable  percentage  of  the 
eggs  when  impregnated  were  premature,  and  conse^ 
quently  produced  an  imperfectly  developed  fish  which 
could  not  live.  Theodore  Lyman,  in  the  Report  of  the 
Massachusetts  Committee  of  Fisheries,  1870,  says : 
"  All  remained  remarkably  healthy  till  May,  when  a 
certain  number  were  observed  to  be  weakly.  It  is 
likely  that  they  were  naturally  sickly,  and,  when  the 
yolk  sac  was  gone,  they  had  not  enough  vitality  to 
feed."*  And  Seth  Green  speaks  in  his  book  on  trout 
culture  as  if  there  were  necessarily  a  great  mortality 

*  Massachusetts  Fisheries,  Report,  1870,  p.  33. 


REARING   THE    YOUNG   FRY.  1/3 

among  the  young  fry,  and  says,  "  We  don't  know  what 
is  the  matter  with  them,  nor  how  to  cure  them."* 

Now  I  wish  at  the  outset  to  express  distinctly  my 
deference  to  authorities  so  high,  —  indeed,  I  know  of 
none  higher,  —  but  I  must,  nevertheless,  venture  to 
disagree  with  them  if  they  mean  that  there  is  any 
necessary  inherent  cause  of  death  in  the  young  fry 
which  cannot  be  removed.  Some  will  die,  say  five 
per  cent,  though  it  ought  to  be  less  than  this,  of  weak 
constitutions.  They  are  born  into  the  world  so  weak- 
ly constituted  that  they  cannot  stand  the  wear  and 
tear  of  life,  and  must  die.  I  admit  that  there  may  be 
perhaps  five  per  cent  of  these  necessary,  unavoidable 
deaths ;  but  that  the  rest  come  into  being  already 
doomed  to  premature  death,  or  that  young  trout  have 
any  mysterious  or  peculiar  inherent  cause  of  death  in 
them,  any  more  than  young  calves,  or  pigs,  or  chick- 
ens, I  do  not  believe.  In  the  present  state  of  infor- 
mation of  the  art,  young  trout  fry  may  be  more  liable 
to  accidents  than  other  young  domesticated  creatures, 
and  it  may  be  more  difficult  to  guard  against  their 
diseases  ;  but  this  is  another  thing.  Careless  breed- 
ing may,  and  careless  hatching  certainly  will,  pro- 
duce a  progeny  of  young  trout  of  which  ninety  per 
cent  will  die ;  but  this  is  also  another  thing.  Careful 
breeding  and  hatching  will  produce  trout  which  are 
just  as  likely  to  live,  in  my  opinion,  as  the  same  num- 
ber of  lambs  or  chickens ;  and  if  the  young  fry  die,  it 
is  not  because  of  any  mysterious,  innate  cause  peculiar 
to  them  because  they  are  trout,  but  it  is  because  they 
*  Trout  Culture,  p.  42. 


174  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

were  killed,  deliberately  killed,  by  external  causes, 
just  as  much  as  lambs  or  chickens  are  killed  by 
storms,  or  by  parasites,  or  from  starvation  or  poison. 
Jt  is  true  that  they  are  killed  from  ignorance  of  their 
wants,  and  not  from  wilful  neglect,  but  it  is  the  same 
thing  abstractly,  —  the  cause  of  death  is  external  and 
removable,  and  not  innate  and  necessary.  Their 
wants  are  peculiar,  of  course,  and  more  occult  and  in- 
tangible than  those  of  pigs  and  colts,  and  to  a  begin- 
ner it  will  sometimes  seem  as  if  they  died  without  be- 
ing diseased.  But  if  they  were  as-  large  as  pigs  and 
colts,  and  could  be  studied  as  easily,  I  do  not  think 
their  wants  would  be  found  to  be  any  more  mysteri- 
ous or  peculiar ;  and  if  the  causes  of  disease  could  be 
magnified,  so  as  to  be  observed  and  studied  clearly,  I 
think  that  no  more  trout  would  die  when  nothing  was 
the  matter  with  them. 

I  am  furthermore  convinced  that  study  and  expe- 
rience will  eventually  clear  up  this  subject,  notwith- 
standing the  difficulties  which  surround  it,  and  that 
at  some  time  it  will  be  known  how  to  raise  trout,  and 
make  them  live,  as  well  as  it  is  known  how  to  raise 
turkeys  and  chickens.  I  believe  that  there  are  energy 
and  intelligence  enough  now  interested  in  the  cause 
to  accomplish  this  end.  I  take  this  ground,  partly 
because  any  other  is  unphilosophical  and  uncompli- 
mentary to  the  intelligence  of  those  who  are  study- 
ing the  art,  and  partly  because  the  facts  of  experience 
confirm  it.  Who  that  sees  the  healthy  young  fry  and 
yearlings  and  two-year-olds  in  Dr.  Slack's  ponds  in 
New  Jersey,  or  at  Mr.  Dexter's  at  West  Barnstable, 


REARING   THE   YOUNG   FRY.  1/5 

or  Mr.  Furman's  on  Long  Island,  can  doubt  that 
others  can  raise  them  in  other  places  and  make  them 
live. 

The  beginner  may  accept  these  axioms  in  raising 
trout :  — 

1.  No  trout  dies  without  a  cause. 

2.  The  causes  of  death  are  discoverable. 

3.  They  can,  in  most  instances,  be  removed. 

My  own  experience  has  invariably  been  to  confirm 
these  principles.  I  lost  in  my  apprenticeship  days  as 
many  young  fry  as  any  one  else  ;  but  with  every  death, 
say  over  five  per  cent,  there  appeared  a  distinct  assign- 
able cause,  present  or  remote,  which  could  be  re- 
moved or  avoided  next  time;  and  the  more  I  lost 
the  more  I  became  satisfied  that  the  causes  of 
death  among  the  young  fry  could  be  discovered  and 
avoided. 

My  later  experience  has  added  confirmation  to  this 
opinion.  And  now,  since  I  have  used  charcoal  troughs 
and  tanks  altogether,  deaths  among  the  young  trout 
have  been,  among  some  lots,  rare  occurrences,  and  in 
general  have  been  no  more  frequent  —  over  the  five 
per  cent  weak  ones — than  among  the  yearlings  and 
breeders. 

In  one  charcoal  trough,  in  particular,  containing 
over  five  thousand,  there  was,  in  the  season  of  1870, 
less  than  one  per  cent  of  deaths  from  all  causes  in 
three  months.  It  has  been  the  same  this  year  (1871). 
In  one  box  of  a  thousand  I  have  not  taken  out  ten 
dead  ones  in  three  months.  I  attribute  this  in  a  great 
degree  to  the  use  of  charcoal  in  hatching,  but  it  con- 


1/6  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

firms  the  theory  just  advocated,  that  the  causes  of 
death  can  be  removed. 

This  has  been  a  long  digression,  I  know.  I  beg 
the  reader  to  excuse  it.  I  was  saying  that  if  you 
took  good  care  of  the  young  fish,  hatched  and  pro- 
vided for  them  as  has  been  suggested,  there  were 
ninety  chances  out  of  a  hundred  that  you  would  raise 
them.  This  remaining  contingency,  however,  of  tak- 
ing good  care  of  them,  is  no  trifle.  It  involves  constant 
vigilance  and  a  very  faithful  attention  to  all  the  con- 
ditions upon  which  the  life  and  growth  of  the  young 
trout  depend. 

As  any  further  directions  as  to  the  care  of  them 
would  be  a  repetition  of  what  has  already  been  written, 
I  will  merely  advise  the  beginner  to  be  always  on  his 
guard  against  accidents  and  dangers  ;  to  visit  the  fish 
the  first  thing  in  the  morning,  and  the  last  thing  at 
night ;  to  carry  out  Macbeth's  resolution,  "  to  make  as- 
surance double  sure,"  even  if  it  seems  like  taking  a 
"bond  of"  certainty.  And  now,  hoping  that  the  reader 
will  have  the  best  of  luck  during  this  delicate  period  of 
the  trout's  career,  let  us  pass  on  to  the  consideration 
of  the  unpleasant  but  important  subject  of  the  diseases 
of  young  trout. 

SECTION  III. —  DISEASES  OF  TROUT  FRY. 

We  are  now  come  to  the  department  of  trout  cul- 
ture which  is  the  least  known,  namely,  the  diseases  to 
which  young  trout  are  subject.  This  is  an  almost  un- 
trodden field  of  study,*  where  little  is  known,  and 

*  The  art  of  raising  horses  and  other  domestic  animals  has 


REARING   THE    YOUNG    FRY. 

still  less  recorded.  It  is  important,  however,  that  this 
department  should  not  be  overlooked,  partly  because 
no  art  which  has  for  its  object  the  cultivation  of-  any 
creature  can  be  considered  perfected  without  a 
knowledge  of  its  diseases  ;  and,  especially,  because 
the  diseases  of  young  trout  are  often  clandestine  in 
their  operation  and  epidemic  in  their  effect,  so  that,, 
when  the  ravages  of  disease  break  out,  they  are  pecu- 
liarly widespread  and  fatal,  and  rapid  in  their  work. 

I  therefore  venture,  though  with  some  timidity,  to 
.give  the  reader  the  little  knowledge  which  I  have 
gathered  on  the  subject  from  observation  of  the  trout 
under  my  care,  with  the  hope  that  others  will  follow 
in  the  same  path,  and  supplement  my  scanty  notes 
with  more  valuable  information ;  and  I  wish  to  say  that 
I  claim  neither  appropriateness  in  the  names  of  the 
diseases  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  nor  perfect  cor- 
rectness in  the  diagnosis.  I  only  give  the  plain  re- 
sult of  my  incidental  observation,  without  pretending 
to  great  thoroughness  or  scientific  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  , 

The  diseases  and  causes  of  death  which  have  come 
under  my  notice  among  young  fry  are  as  follows  :  — 

1.  Fungus  on  the  egg. 

2.  Partial  suffocation  of  the  embryo. 

3.  Strangulation  of  the  embryo  in  hatching. 

4.  Seth  Green's  dropsy,  or  blue  swelling. 

books  on  their  diseases,  and  we  know  where  to  go  to  find  horse- 
doctors  and  dog-doctors  and  the  like ;  but  no  book  has  been 
written  on  the  diseases  of  young  trout,  and  I  suppose  there  never 
was  in  all  the  world  such  a  thing  as  a  fish-doctor. 

8*  L 


1/8  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

5.  Deformity  at  birth. 

6.  Fungus  on  the  surface  of  the  body. 

7.  Constitutional  weakness. 

8.  Emaciation. 

9.  Starvation. 

10.  Ulcers  on  the  head. 

11.  Animal  parasites. 

12.  Fin  disease. 

13.  Black  ophthalmia. 

14.  Irritation  of  the  optic  nerve. 

15.  Inflammation  of  the  gills. 

1 6.  Black  gill  fever. 

17.  Fatty  degeneration  of  the  vitals. 

1 8.  Spotted  rash. 

^.19.  Strangulation  by  food. 

20.  Cannibalism,  nibbling. 

21.  Overheating. 

22.  Suffocation. 

23.  Paralysis. 

i.  Fungus  on  the  egg.  This  is  the  most  insidious, 
the  most  devastating,  and  the  most  obnoxious  of  all 
the  diseases  of  young  trout,  and  the  first  in  order  of 
the  causes  of  death.  It  blights  the  embryo  in  the  egg. 
Once  present  in  the  water,  it  spreads  unseen  over  all 
the  eggs,  and  is  sooner  or  later  fatal.  The  effect  of 
fungus  has  been  already  described  in  the  chapter  on 
Hatching  the  Eggs,  p.  115.  We  mention  it  here  again 
among  diseases  of  trout  fry,  because  it  sometimes  does 
not  kill  the  eggs,  but  causes  them  to  produce  prema- 
turely a  weakly  young  fish,  which  usually  dies  before 
summer. 


REARING    THE    YOUNG    FRY. 
$ 

For  causes,  signs,  and  remedies  of  fungus,  we  refer  the 
reader  to  the  chapter  on  Hatching  the  Eggs,  pp.  1 1 5, 1 16. 

2.  Partial  suffocation  of  the  embryo.     It  sometimes 
happens  that  the  embryo  will  be  partially  suffocated 
a  short  time  before  the  egg  hatches,  so  that,  although 
the  embryo  will  be  born  alive,  it  will  die  soon  after. 
The  cause  of  this,  of  course,  is  not  giving  the  eggs  air 
enough,  either  from  overcrowding  them  or  not  having 
enough  circulation  in  the  water.     The  remedies  are 
obvious. 

3.  Strangulation  in  hatching.     Sometimes  the  em- 
bryo dies  just  in  the  act  of  hatching.    I  have  attributed 
it  to  the  strangulation  of  the  embryo  by  the  shell  of 
the  egg.     It  may  be  from  other  causes.     There  is  no 
remedy,  that  I  know  of,  and  the  instances  of  death 
from  this  cause  are  -not  numerous  enough  with  trout 
to  make  it  a  very  serious  matter.* 

4.  Seth  Green's  dropsy ',  or  blue  swelling  of  the  yolk 
sac.     This  is  a  very  noticeable  disorder  among  the 
alevin  trout,  and,  being  an  affection  of  the  yolk  sac,  is 
of  course  confined  to  them. 

The  sac  becomes  swollen  to  three  times  its  usual 
size.  The  outer  membrane  shows  very  thin  and  trans- 
parent, is  seen  to  be  filled  with  a  bluish  liquid,  and, 
when  punctured,  discharges  a  thin,  watery  fluid.  Seth 
Green's  book  calls  it  the  dropsy  ;  it  affects  only  a 

*  Mr.  Parnaby,  of  Troutdale  Fishery,  England,  says  he  has 
noticed  this  cause  of  death  particularly  in  the  char  (Salmo  umbla}t 
and  he  attributes  it  to  the  tough  shell  of  the  char  egg  and  the 
peculiarly  round  and  full  form  of  the  yolk  sac,  which  makes  it 
more  difficult  for  the  char  to  liberate  itself  from  the  egg  than 
for  other  fish. 


I  SO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

few  fish  and  is  not  contagious.  I  know  of  no  special 
cause  and  no  remedy.  Green  says  the  fish  can  be 
sometimes  saved  by  tapping  the  sac  and  letting  out 
the  dropsical  matter ;  but  I  doubt  it,  and  think  the 
disease  is  always  fatal. 

5.  Deformity  at  birth.     Some  trout  are  born  with 
curved  spines,  spiral  spines,  double  heads,  and  with 
bodies  more  or  less  imperfect.     The   proportion   of 
these  to  the  whole  is  generally  small,  though  the  num- 
ber of  deformed  spines  will  be  made  considerable  by 
careless  hatching.     Unless  the  deformity  is  slight,  the 
fish  will  not  live  long  after  feeding,  although  a  double 
fish,  with  two  distinct  vertebral  columns  and  separate 
tails,  and  united  only  at  the  sac,  will  survive  for  some 
time.     If  the  deformity  is  trifling,  they  sometimes  live. 
I  have  killed  several  grown-up  trout  with  somewhat 
bowed  and  crooked   backs.     Careful  hatching  is  the 
remedy  for  deformed  spines,  or  rather  the  preventa- 
tive. 

6.  Fungus  on  the  surface  of  the  body.     This  cause 
of  mortality  is  distinct  from  fungus  on  the  egg,  as  it 
attaches  itself  to  fish  hatched  from  perfect  eggs.     The 
fish  usually  get  the  fungus  on  them  when  quite  young, 
by  rubbing  it  off  the  sides  of  the  box  or  pond  in  which 
they  are  confined.     It  sometimes  floats  down  with  the 
water  and  gets  in  their  gills.     It  is  always  fatal,  and 
usually  very  destructive.     It  cannot  be  too  carefully 
guarded  against.     There  is  no  remedy  for  the  disease 
after  it  attacks  the  fish,  unless  it  is  salt  water.*     It  can 
be  prevented  only  by  shutting  off  any  possibility  of 

*  See  Appendix  I. 


REARING    THE    YOUNG    FRY.  l8l 

fungus  growing  in  the  hatching  troughs  or  coming  into 
the  water.  This  can  be  done  by  the  use  of  carbonized 
troughs  and  aqueducts  throughout. 

7.  Constitutional  weakness.     This  is   an  evil  which 
is  the  necessary  lot,  we  suppose,  of  a  certain  propor- 
tion of  all  domesticated  creatures  that  are  born  into 
the  world.     This  proportion,  in  the  case  of  domesti- 
cated   trout,   can    be    reduced  very  much  by  careful 
breeding  and  hatching ;  but  there  is,  nevertheless,  a 
limit  as  with  other  creatures,  beyond  which  the  causes 
lie  too  deep  and  too  far  back  to  be  controlled.     What 
the  limit  is  with  trout  is  not    known.     I    think    Mr. 
Ainsworth's  opinion  is,  that  the  percentage  of  loss  from 
this  cause  is   very  large  with  artificially  taken  eggs. 
I  think  it  is  much  less,  and  with  care  in  developing 
strong  and  healthy  embryos  need  not  be  over  five 
par  cent.      The   constitutionally  weak  ones   may  be 
distinguished  from   the   rest  by  being  at  birth   thin, 
puny,  undersized,  and  looking  as  if  they  never  would 
come  to  anything.    There  is  no  help  for  them,  but  the 
number  of  them  can  be  much  reduced  by  care  in  the 
development  of  the  embryo. 

8.  Emaciation.     Many  of  the  young  fry  are  usually 
observed   to   wear   away   without   any  visible    cause. 
They  do   not  wholly  decline  food,  but  grow  thinner 
and  thinner  every  day,  till  at  last  they  die. 

This  emaciation,  although  the  effect  of  disease,  is 
classed  here  among  diseases,  because  the  causes  are 
not  known.  If  sufficiently  studied,  the  disorder  would 
probably  be  found  resolvable  into  some  of  the  other 
diseases  here  mentioned.  These  attenuated  fish  may 


I  82  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

not  always  die,  but  I  do  not  think  them  worth  the 
trouble  of  raising.  The  best  thing  to  do  with  them 
is  to  turn  them  out  into  a  natural  brook,  and  let  them 
shift  for  themselves.  They  may  come  to  something 
there.  They  never  will  in  the  nursery. 

9.  Starvation.     This,  Seth  Green  thinks,  is  a  prolific 
cause  of  death  among  the  very  young  fry,  and  it  does 
not  follow  that  they  will  escape  because  their  keeper 
takes  pains  to  feed  them  ;  for,  if  confined  in  ponds 
of  considerable  size,  they  will  often  wander  off  where 
they  can  find  no  food,  and  from  shyness  and  ignorance 
will  not  come  up  to  take  it  when  offered.     The  con- 
sequence is  that  they  are  soon  carried   against  the 
screens,  or  drop  down   dead  from   exhaustion,  forty- 
eight  hours  of  fasting  being  enough  to  reduce  very 
young  fry  to  a  state  of  extreme  weakness. 

I  have  often  thought  also,  that,  when  very  hungry, 
they  will  eat  things  which  do  not  agree  with  them, 
and  so  hasten  their  death. 

The  remedy  for  the  danger  of  starvation  is  to  con- 
fine the  trout  where  they  will  take  their  rations  regu- 
larly and  feed  them  faithfully.  Then  you  will  not  lose 
any  from  this  cause. 

10.  Ulcers  on  the  head.     This  disease  has  already 
been    mentioned    in    the   chapter   on  growing  young 
trout.     It  usually  attacks  the  fish,  if  at  all,  when  they 
are  young,  and  always  comes  when  the  water  gets 
foul  from  decaying  food,  and  when  the  fish  have  no 
earth.     Great  numbers  died  of  it  before  the  use  of 
earth  as  a  remedy  was  discovered.     As  this  disease 
progresses,  the  fish  becomes  lank  in  body,  its  head 


REARING    THE    YOUNG   FRY.  1 83 

swells  and  grows  soft,  and  an  ulcer  appears  on  the 
top  of  the  skull,  which  discharges  a  thin,  watery  fluid 
when  punctured.  It  is  not  contagious,  but  always 
fatal.  The  remedy  is  found  in  prevention.  It  is  to 
keep  the  water  pure,  and  give  the  trout  plenty  of 
earth. 

ii.  Animal  parasites  *  This  is  a  very  alarming  and 
destructive  cause  of  death  among  the  young  fry,  and 
all  the  more  because  the  parasite  attacks  the  best 
and  fattest  and  healthiest  fish.  They  come  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly,  sometimes  as  early  as  the  ist  of 
May,  and  first  show  themselves  as  a  little  bunch  of 
whitish  jelly-like  matter  on  the  back  or  sides  of  the 
fish,  in  most  cases  not  far  from  the  dorsal  fin.  At 
first  the  fish  does  not  appear  to  mind  it  much,  and 
feeds  and  remains  in  good  condition  for  a  day  or  two. 
But  soon  after  he  seeks  an  eddy  where  the  water  is 
still,  refuses  food,  and  dies  within  a  week.  This  dis- 
ease is  fatal,  and  whether  contagious  or  not,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  whole  boxes  are  attacked  at  once,  and  in  the 
instances  within  my  experience  every  fish  was  de- 
stroyed in  ten  days,  none  escaped  ;  it  is  the  most 
fatal  and  insidious  disorder  that  I  have  encountered 
in  raising  young  fry.  The  microscope  which  I  used 
for  examination  revealed  nothing  but  a  gelatinous 
protuberance  on  the  body  of  the  fish.  I  have  sup- 
posed it  to  be  the  eggs  of  some  water  insect  floating 
in  the  water,  but  provided  with  the  power  of  attaching 
itself  to  whatever  it  fell  upon,  like  the  eggs  of  perch 

*  See  Appendix  I.  for  account  of  another  class  of  animal 
parasites,  not  discovered  when  this  chapter  was  written. 


184  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

and  other  fishes.  I  have  therefore  called  it  an  animal 
parasite,  though  future  observation  may  prove  this  to 
be  incorrect.  At  first  sight  one  would  take  it  for  the 
fungus,  which  is  so  common  among  injured  fish  ;  but  a 
little  examination  shows  it  to  be  quite  different,  affect- 
ing the  fish  differently,  and,  what  is  the  worst  feature 
about  it,  attacking  perfectly  healthy,  uninjured  trout ; 
the  largest  and  most  promising  being  among  the  first 
of  its  victims.  In  my  experience,  the  parasites  have 
not,  I  think,  originated  always  or  usually  in  the  en- 
closure where  the  fish  were,  but  somewhere  above  in 
the  stream,  where  they  are  generated,  and  whence 
they  float  down  to  where  the  fish  are  which  they 
fasten  upon.  The  fish  that  are  affected  cannot  be 
saved,  but  the  spread  of  the  disease  may  be  checked 
by  prompt  measures. 

Therefore,  as  soon  as  the  presence  of  this  disease 
is  discovered,  take  out  the  affected  ones  and  throw 
them  away.  Then  change  all  the  others  to  a  new 
place  where  you  can  depend  upon  the  water,  and  lose 
no  time  in  doing  it. 

12.  Fin  disease.  At  all  stages  of  growth  during 
the  first  six  months,  the  fins  of  the  young  fish  may 
sometimes  be  observed  to  be  mutilated.  Occasionally 
as  many  as  one  fourth  of  them  will  be  found  to  be  so 
affected.  Sometimes  the  fins  will  be  simply  a  little 
frayed  at  the  edges,  at  other  times  the  fin  will  be 
seen  to  be  nearly  gone,  and  will  present  a  fungussy 
edge.  The  affected  ones  will  usually  gravitate  towards 
the  outlet  screens,  and  will  be  the  weaker  and  smaller 
ones  of  the  lot,  but  occasionally  a  large  and  vigorous 


REARING   THE    YOUNG   FRY.  185 

one  at  the  upper  end  will  have  a  fin  or  two  half  gone. 
This  disorder  is  not  always  fatal,  by  any  means,  for 
some  will  recover ;  but  if  either  of  the  pectoral  fins. are 
nearly  destroyed,  or  if  fungus  has  set  in,  the  trout 
will  probably  die. 

One  cause  of  this  disease  is  the  biting  of  other  fish. 
Young  trout,  like  cub  bears,  are  irritable  in  their  na- 
ture, and  do  not  like  to  have  others  come  too  near 
them,  but  will  snap  and  bite  their  companions  when 
they  show  a  disposition  to  crowd.  The  result  is  that 
their  fins  frequently  get  mutilated,  and  present  the 
appearance  just  described.  They  show  this  irritable- 
ness  especially  when  they  are  left  unfed  for  a  while 
and  get  very  hungry,  the  hunger,  perhaps,  having  a 
double  agency  in  making  them  bite  at  each  other. 
This  unnecessary  cause  of  the  evil  should  at  least 
be  avoided.  When  you  discover  any  young  trout 
with  injured  fins,  take  them  out  and  put  them  by 
themselves,  where  they  have  plenty  of  room,  plenty 
of  water,  and  plenty  of  food.  Some  will  die,  per- 
haps half.  With  the  others  the  fins  will  grow  out 
again,  and  the  trout  in  a  few  months  be  as  well  as 
ever. 

13.  Black  ophthalmia.  This  is  a  strange  disease. 
You  sometimes  observe  a  fish  becoming  very  black 
and  inclined  to  separate  from  the  rest.  He  is  some- 
what emaciated,  refuses  food,  and  is  less  easily  fright- 
ened than  the  others.  If  you  examine  his  eyes,  you 
will  see  that  the  tissue  of  the  pupil  is  more  or  less 
destroyed  and  his  eyesight  much  injured,  which  is  the 
cause  of  his  not  being  frightened  at  your  approach. 


1 86  •'    DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

The  emaciation  continues,  the  blackness  of  the  skin 
increases  ;  the  fish  finally  becomes  totally  blind  and 
dies.  I  know  of  no  cause  or  remedy,  though  I 
have  noticed  that  more  cases  occur  where  the  water 
has  become  somewhat  foul,  and  once  I  thought  a  fish 
affected  with  this  disorder  recovered  on  being  removed 
into  better  water,  but  I  do  not  feel  certain  of  it.  The 
disease  attacks  young  and  old  alike,  and  is  not  conta- 
gious. 

14,  Irritation  of  the  optic  nerve.     Fishes,  as  is  well 
known,  have  no  eyelids   to   protect  their  eyes  from 
excessive  light.     It  is  therefore  a  very  serious  thing  to 
young  fry,  that  have  been  used  only  to  the  dark,  to  be 
suddenly  exposed  to  the  glare  of  the  sun  ;  and  it  some- 
times happens  that  when  they  are  so  exposed,  and 
cannot  escape  from  the  sunlight,  their  brains  become 
hurt,  they  assume  most  unnatural  positions  and  move- 
ments, and  after  darting  about  frantically,  like  crazy 
creatures,  for  a  few  moments,  they  die.     I  have  sup- 
posed that  the  unaccustomed  light  produces  an  irrita- 
tion of  the  optic  nerve,  and  have  so  named  it. 

15.  Inflammation  of  the  gills.     This  corresponds  to 
inflammation  of  the  lungs  in  animals,  and  it  is  the  re- 
sult usually  of  crowding  too  many  trout  into  too  small 
a  space,  without  a  sufficient  change  of  water.     Their 
gills  or  lungs  have  too  much  work  to  do,  and  this,  with 
breathing  over  the  impure  water,  produces  inflamma- 
tion.   It  is  a  lingering  disorder,  more  in  that  particular 
like  consumption  in  higher  orders.     The  affected  fish 
may  contrive  to  live  for  some  time,  and  eat  the  same, 
but  will  not  grow  any ;  they  will  become  attenuated,  and 


REARING   THE   YOUNG   FRY.  l8/ 

finally  die.  I  am  inclined  to  think,  however,  that  the 
disease  is  not  always  fatal,  but  that  a  change  to  pure 
water  and  plenty  of  it  will  often  effect  a  cure.  The  ap- 
plication of  earth  in  this  disease  seems  injurious,  rather 
than  beneficial,  probably  owing  to  the  irritating  action 
of  the  sandy  particles  on  the  inflamed  tissues.  You 
can  detect  the  disease  before  death  by  looking  directly 
down  on  the  fish  from  above.  In  a  perfectly  healthy 
fish  the  gill  covers  completely  cover  the  gills,  and  shut 
down  closely  over  them.  In  a  sick  fish  the  gill  covers 
do  not  wholly  conceal  the  gills,  which  are  visible 
through  the  whole  respiration  of  the  fish,  and  appear 
swollen  and  inflamed.  After  death  the  fish  looks  so 
much  like  a  perfectly  healthy  fish,  that  an  inexperi- 
enced person  would  say  there  was  not  a  mark  of  dis- 
ease upon  it.  Deaths  from  this  cause  are  very  pro- 
voking to  beginners,  for  the  fish  seems  to  them  to  die 
without  any  cause  whatever. 

1 6.  Black  gill  fever.     There  is  another  disease  of 
the  gills,  which  is  more  rapid  in  its  action,  and   to 
which  I  have  given  the  above  name  because  it  seems 
to  resemble  a  fever,  and  because  the  gills  of  the  fish 
turn  black.     I  have  not  had  many  cases  of  it  myself, 
but  I  believe  it  is  usually  fatal ;  others  who  have  ob- 
served it  think  that  it  is  contagious.     I  know  of  no 
remedy. 

17.  Fatty  degeneration  of  the  vitals.    Sometimes  when 
you  examine  a  young  trout  that  has  died  without  a 
visible  cause,  you  will  find  an  abnormal  accumulation 
of  fat  about  the  vitals,  and  nothing  in  the  stomach. 
This  is  probably  the  cause  of  its  death.     There  is,  as 


1 88  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

is  well  known,  a  corresponding  disease  among  higher 
orders,  called  fatty  degeneration  of  the  heart.  Dr. 
Slack  of  the  Troutdale  Ponds  speaks  of  this  disease 
among  trout,  and  says  that  a  constant  diet  of  curd  will 
produce  it. 

1 8.  Spotted  rash.     I  once  gave  an  abundance   of 
water-cresses  (Nasturtium  qffitinale)  to  a  lot  of  young 
fry  that  had  been  kept  wholly  without  vegetable  food. 
In  forty-eight  hours  their  bodies  were   covered  with 
brown   spots,   and  within    the   next  forty-eight  hours 
most  of  the  fish  died.     I  cannot  say  for  a  certainty 
whether  it  was  a  rash  coming  from  within,  or  a  parasite 
coming  from  without.     I  have  called  it  spotted  rash 
for  want  of  a  better  name,  and  have  noted  it  for  future 
observers.     Whatever  it  is,  it  is  certainly  very  fatal. 

19.  Strangulation  by  food.     Trout  of  all  ages  will 
sometimes  take  too  large  pieces  of  food,  which  they 
cannot  disgorge,  and  which  they  cannot  swallow,  and 
therefore  get  choked  to  death.     You  will  see  them 
in   the   pond  with  their  eyes  protruding,   and  head 
very  much  swollen  laterally,  and  the  offending  morsel 
sometimes  projecting  from  the  mouth.     The  situation 
is  usually  fatal,  but  not  always  ;  they  will  sometimes 
recover,  after  having  had  a  frightfully  swollen  head  and 
eyes  ;   sometimes  you  can  save  them  by  pulling  the 
piece  of  food  out  of  their  throats. 

20.  Cannibalism,  nibbling.     This  is  a  frequent  cause 
of  death  among  the  young  fry.     Trout  are  cannibals  ; 
they  will  always  eat  each  other,  if  they  can,  when  they 
are  hungry  ;  and  this  can  be  taken  as  a  rule,  that  a  trout 
of  any  size,  if  hungry  enough,  will  eat  a  trout  of  half  its 


REARING    OF   THE    YOUNG   FRY.  189 

length.  A  trout  a  foot  long  will  eat  a  trout  of  six 
inches,  or  a  trout  two  inches  long  will  eat  a  trout  an 
inch  long.  Cannibalism  is  something,  too,  which 
grows  on  trout;  and  after  having  once  tasted  flesh  of 
their  own  kind,  they,  like  human  cannibals,  prefer  it, 
and,  refusing  their  ordinary  food,  they  will  lie  in  am- 
buscade in  holes  and  corners,  where,  feeding  on  their 
weaker  fellows,  they  thrive  and  grow  better  than  the 
rest.  This  makes  the  evil  doubly  mischievous,  be- 
cause from  their  new  habit  of  hiding  they  are  less 
likely  to  be  discovered,  and  their  increased  rate  of 
growth  is  daily  putting  a  greater  difference  in  size  be- 
tween them  and  their  companions,  and  making  them 
more  formidable.  Careful  sorting  is  the  remedy,  to- 
gether with  regular  feeding.  If  these  rules  are  ob- 
served, there  will  not  be  much  trouble  or  loss  from  the 
trout  eating  one  another.  But  there  is  another  form 
of  cannibalism,  which,  though  less  repugnant,  is  more 
injurious,  namely,  nibbling.  The  young  fry  when  they 
first  feed  are  very  voracious,  and  will  nibble  at  the 
tails  and  fins  of  those  in  front  of  them,  and,  if  allowed 
to  get  very  hungry,  will  often  do  a  great  deal  of  injury 
in  this  way,  especially  if  much  crowded.  The  younger 
they  are,  the  more  they  are  given  to  the  habit,  but  they 
finally  outgrow  it.  The  remedy  is  to  give  them  regu- 
lar feed  and  plenty  of  room. 

21.  Overheating.  This  simply  means  being  kept  in 
water  that  is  not  cold  enough.  As  summer  advances 
and  the  weather  grows  warmer  and  warmer,  the  wa- 
ter in  your  brook  sometimes  grows  too  warm  for  the 
trout  to  live  in.  If  that  is  your  coldest  brook  the 


IQO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

consequence  is  inevitable.  The  trout  must  die.  This 
cause  of  death  is  trying,  because  you  can  see  the 
trouble  and  know  what  is  coming,  but  cannot  help  it. 
If  you  have  colder  water,  remove  the  fish  to  it  without 
delay,  and  take  the  first  hours  of  the  morning  in  which 
to  do  it,  when  the  water  is  coolest ;  use  ice  in  convey- 
ing them.  If  the  heat  is  only  exceptional,  you  can  do 
some  good  by  the  use  of  ice  placed  in  the  inlet.  I 
have  saved  some  in  that  way ;  indeed,  as  long  as  the 
ice  lasts  you  are  safe,  but  it  wastes  very  rapidly  in  run- 
ning water,  and  therefore  is  often  unavailable.  The 
dangerous  point  of  temperature  lies  somewhere  be- 
tween 70°  and  85°  Fahrenheit.  I  have  known  water 
to  be  fatal  at  72°  or  73°,  and  I  have  known  trout  to 
live  in  good  vigorous  water  at  78°,  but  danger  is  near 
when  the  mercury  begins  to  be  above  70°. 

22.  Suffocation.  This  is  simply  the  result  of  want 
of  air,  from  the  water  having  been  breathed  over  too 
much.  The  cause  and  remedy  are  obvious.  I  will 
only  say  that  the  colder  the  water  the  slower  trout 
breathe. 

In  case  of  suffocation,  the  fish  should  not  be  given 
up  because  it  appears  to  be  dead,  for  suffocated  trout 
are  often  restored,  even  after  life  seems  to  be  entirely 
extinct.  The  way  to  do  this  is  to  aerate  the  water  in 
which  they  are  contained  as  vigorously  as  possible. 
The  effect  is  often  very  startling,  as  well  as  gratifying, 
in  bringing  to  life  fish  that  appeared  dead. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  on  the  diseases  of  young 
fry,  I  would  recommend  to  the  trout-breeder  to  ex- 
amine his  trout  carefully  every  day,  and  to  be  always 


REARING    OF    THE   YOUNG    FRY.  IQI 

on  the  watch  for  the  appearance  of  disease,  and,  when 
he  detects  its  presence,  to  act  promptly  on  the  maxim 
in  the  beginning  of  Seth  Green's  work  on  fish  culture, 
"  Never  put  off  till  to-morrow  what  you  can  do  to- 
day." The  progress  of  disease  among  young  trout 
is  often  so  rapid,  and  so  epidemic  in  its  character, 
that  you  cannot  be  too  vigilant  in  discovering  it,  or 
too  prompt  in  suppressing  it.  I  would  add,  also, 
that  you  must  not  suppose  because  none  of  your  fry 
are  dying  that  no  disease  is  in  progress,  or  that  dis- 
ease has  just  set  in  when  the  fish  begin  to  die.  On 
the  contrary,  in  some  instances  the  disease  or  offend- 
ing cause  may  have  been  at  work  for  weeks  before 
the  first  fish  actually  dies  from  it.  Therefore  be  vigi- 
lant and  prompt  in  guarding  against  the  first  approach 
of  evil. 

23.  Paralysis.  There  is  still  another  disease  to 
which  young  fry  are  subject,  and  I  should  call  it  par- 
alysis if  I  thought  that  fish  were  subject  to  this  dis- 
order. It  attacked  one  lot,  and  only  one,  of  my 
alevin  trout.  They  had  been  hatched  about  a  month, 
and  the  yolk  sac  was  nearly  half  gone.  There  were, 
perhaps,  about  two  thousand  in  the  compartment. 
Sixty  or  seventy  were  attacked.  The  first  time  I 
discovered  that  anything  was  wrong  was  one  morning 
when  the  water  was  being  agitated  with  a  feather. 
The  well  ones  immediately  headed  with  all  their  might 
against  the  current  as  usual,  while  a  few,  only  fifteen 
or  sixteen  at  first,  were  observed  to  lie  perfectly  mo- 
tionless, and  to  move  unresistingly  with  the  current, 
and  finally  to  collect  in  a  heap  in  the  centre  of  an 


IQ2  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

eddy.  On  examination  they  appeared  to  be  perfectly 
lifeless  ;  but  they  did  not  —  and  this  is  the  singular 
part  of  it  —  they  did  not  change  color,  as  dead  fry  of 
this  age  invariably  do.  The  next  day,  and  for  two  or 
three  days,  they  continued  to  look  like  live  fish  as 
they  lay  still  in  the  water,  and  to  appear  like  dead 
fish  when  more  closely  examined.  After  three  or 
four  days  one  or  more  white  spots  were  seen  near  the 
heart,  and  these  finally  extended  all  over  the  body  : 
but  the  entire  white  change  did  not  come  on  for  a 
number  of  days,  and  always  began  internally  and 
worked  outwards.  Sixty  or  seventy  were  affected  in 
this  way.  All  died  ;  but  the  others  in  the  com- 
partment did  not  seem  to  suffer  at  all,  and  remained 
alive  and  well. 

SECTION  IV.  —  FILLING  ORDERS  FOR  YOUNG  FRY. 

Filling  orders  for  young  fry  in  the  spring  is  part 
of  the  trout-breeder's  business,  and  promises  to  con- 
tinue to  be,  on  the  principle  that  people  will  buy  their 
young  fish  to  save  hatching  them,  as  people  buy  young 
cabbage-plants  and  tomatoes  to  save  starting  them. 

A  few  words  about  sending  off  the  young  fish  may 
be  of  service  to  the  beginner. 

The  first  thing  to  do  in  preparing  to  fill  an  order 
for  young  fry  is  to  arrange  temporary  boxes  to  put 
them  into  after  they  are  counted.  These  boxes  should 
have  a  stream  of  water  running  through  them,  should 
be  provided  with  an  ample  screen  for  an  outlet,  and 
should  be  light  and  portable,  so  that  they  can  be 
lifted,  and  the  fish  and  water  poured  from  them  when 


REARING    OF    THE    YOUNG   FRY.  IQ3 

wanted.*  The  boxes  should  be  perfectly  clean,  so 
that  there  will  be  nothing  but  the  fish  and  the  water 
to  pour  out.  The  next  thing  is  to  count  them.  To 
do  this,  net  out  a  quantity  from  the  hatching-troughs 
into  a  pan  of  water.  Place  this  pan  side  by  side  with 
a  large  can  or  pail  of  water.  Then  take  a  dipper  and 
dip  up  a  few  fish  from  the  pan  and  pass  them  over  tp 
the  pail,  counting  each  dipperful  as  it  is  passed  over. 
You  had,  perhaps,  better  begin  with  only  four  or  five 
in  the  dipper  at  once,  but  with  practice  you  will  be 
able  to  count  seven  or  eight  or  more  at  a  time  as  you 
pass  them  over.  It  takes  from  half  an  hour  to  a*n 
hour,  according  to  your  dexterity,  to  count  a  thousand. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  score  every  hundred,  so  that,  if 
you  lose  your  count,  you  will  not  have  to  go  back  far 
to  recover  it.  It  is  very  easy  to  forget  your  count,  arid 
very  provoking  to  be  obliged  to  count  over  again  two 
or  three  thousand  because  of  forgetting  the  exact  num- 
ber ;  but  if  you  score  every  hundred  there  is  no  danger 
of  being  driven  to  this.  The  temporary  box  for  the 
night  should  be  in  place  when  you  begin  to  count 
them,  so  that  the  counted  fish  will  not  be  obliged  to 
stay  long  in  the  pair  or  can.  If  there  is  a  large  num- 
ber to  send  off,  they  should  be  counted  the  day  before, 
and"  placed  in  the  boxes,  fed  well,  and  covered  over 
for  the  night.  They  will  then  be  in  good  condition  to 
start  the  next  day,  which  is  a  very  important  point. 

*  In  transferring  young  fry  from  one  receptacle  to  another,  it 
is  easier  and  safer  to  pour  them  over,  water  and  all,  than  to  net 
them  out.     If  the  fry  are  very  thick,  it  is  sometimes  best  to 
transfer  part  of  them  with  the  net,  and  pour  over  the  rest. 
9  M 


194 


DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


In  the  morning  feed  them  again,  and  when  it  is  time  to 
start,  transfer  them  to  the  tank  or  can  which  is  to  carry 
them.  For  small  quantities,  say  1,000  or  2,000,  I  use 
a  twelve-gallon  tin  can.  For  larger  quantities,  say 
5,000  or  more,  I  take  a  seventy-gallon  tank,  a  drawing 
of  which  may  be  seen  in  the  Massachusetts  Report  of 
tjie  Fishery  Commissioners  for  1868,  Plate  III.  Fig.  6. 
The  tank  has  a  pump  attached  ;  but  this  is  not  worked 
when  small  fish  are  carried.  .  I  use  also  a  hundred- 
gallon  tank  for  moving  still  larger  quantities. 

The  tank  for 
carrying  fish, 
when  filled 
with  water,  is 
very  heavy, 
and  should 
have  four  iron 
handles  on  the 
sides  to  facili- 
tate moving. 
It  must  not  be 
made  too  large 
round,  or  it 
will  not  go  in- 
to the  door  of 
the  express- 
car,  which 
would  be 
found  to  be  a 

Tin  Can  for  the  Transportation  of  Young  Fry.  very        SCrioUS 

difficulty.     Iii  travelling   long  distances,   I  take,  be- 


REARING    OF    THE    YOUNG   FRY. 


195 


sides  the  tank,*  a  water-pail,  a  bag  of  ice,  tin  dipper 
or  bellows,  and  a  sponge.  The  ice  will  be  all  needed 
before  night,  if  the  weath- 
er is  warm.  The  pail  is 
a  convenience  in  various 
ways,  the  dipper  or  bel- 
lows t  is  for  aerating  the 
water,  and  the  sponge  is 
for  the  floor  of  the  car, 
if  the  water  slops  over. 
Be  careful  to  have  plenty 
of  help  when  you  load 
into  the  car,  and  also  at 
every  change  of  cars,  for, 
different  from  other  mer- 
chandise, an  upset  is  of- 
ten a  total  loss.  J 

'    Keep  the  temperature    The  Strainer  on  which  the  Ice  is  placed. 

of  the  water  very  low  all  day  with  ice, — using  large 
pieces  when  standing  still,  and  small  pieces  when  in 
motion,  as  the  large  pieces  are  then  apt  to  bruise  and 
kill  the  fish.  Do  not  change  the  water  en  route,  but 
give  it  a  thorough  aeration  once  in  half  an  hour. 
The  aerating  will  be  sure  to  keep  them  alive,  while 

*  The  Troutdale  Transit  Tank  is  recommended  as  an  excel- 
lent thing  to  carry  live  fish  in.  See  Dr.  Slack's  Catalogue  of 
fish  culturists'  apparatus.  A  common  flour-barrel,  well  soaked, 
with  floats  on  the  top  of  the  water  to  prevent  slopping,  is  a  very 
good  impromptu  affair  for  carrying  live  fish. 

t  A  common  hand  fire-bellows  is  as  good  an  extempore  aerat- 
ing machine  as  can  be  found. 

\  See  Appendix  II.,  on  Journeys  with  Live  Fish. 


DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


there  is  always  a  risk  of  killing  them  by  using  water 
with  which  you  are  not  acquainted. 

It  is  best,  I  think,  to  accompany  the  fish  all  the 
way,  and  see  them  safely  in  the  hands  of  those  to 
whom  they  are  consigned,  though,  where  there  is  no 
change  of  cars  to  the  end  of  the  route,  I  sometimes 
leave  them  the  last  fifty  miles,  with  a  small  fee,  in  the 
hands  of  the  express  messenger. 

Alevins  require  less  air  than  older  fish,  and  no  food, 
consequently  more  can  be  taken  in  less  water  than 
when  older,  and  the  risk  of  loss  is  correspondingly 
less,  making  the  alevin  stage  the  best  time  for  trans- 
portation. But,  as  you  cannot  sell  all  your  fish  at  the 
alevin  stage,  you  will  probably  have  occasion  to  trans- 
port the  young  fry  at  various  ages.  This  is  always 
practicable  ;  only  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
older  they  are  the  more  water  they  require. 

A  thousand  alevins  can  be  carried  in  a  gallon  of 
water,  kept  very  cold.  At  the  age  of  three  months  I 
allow  a  gallon  of  water  for  each  two  hundred  feeding  fry. 

In  brief,  then,  when  you  transport  young  fry,  count 
them  the  day  before,  start  them  in  good  condition,  go 
with  them,  keep  the  water  very  cold  with  ice,  do  not 
change  it,  aerate  it  regularly,  and  do  not  upset  the 
tank,  and  you  will  find  the  fish  will  do  almost  as  well 
on  a  journey  of  twelve  or  twenty-four  hours  as  if  they 
were  at  home  in  the  stream.  I  have  carried  ten  thou- 
sand young  fry,  four  months  old,  all  day  in  hot  weather, 
from  5  A.  M.  to  6  P.  M.,  in  fifty  gallons  of  water,  without 
change,  and  with  a  loss  of  only  seven  fish  out  of  the  ten 
thousand.  See  Appendix,  on  Journeys  with  Live  Fish. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT. 
SECTION   I.  —  TROUT  IN   GENERAL. 

Scientific  Description   of  the  Salmo  Fontinalis.      By 
David  Humphreys  Storer* 

SALMO  FONTINALIS.    Common  Trout.    Mitch- 
ill,  Trans.  Lit.  &  Phil.  Soc.  of  N.  Y.,  I.  p.  435. 
Salmo  nigrescens.    Black  Trout.    Raf.,  Ichth.  Ohien., 

P-  43- 
Red-spotted  Trout.     Doughty,  Cabinet  of  Nat.  Hist., 

I.  p.  145,  PI.  13. 
Salmo  fontinalis.     Rich,  Fauna  Boreal.  Americ.,  III. 

p.  176,  PL  83,  fig.  i.,  PI.  87,  fig.  2,  head. 
Salmo   fontinalis.     Common   Brook   Trout.      Storer's 

Report,  p.  1 06. 
Salmo  fontinalis.    Speckled  Trout.    Kirtland's  Report, 

pp.  169-194. 
Salmo  fontinalis.     Brook  Trout.     Thompson,  Hist,  of 

Vermont,  p.  141. 
Salmo  fontinalis.     Brook  Trout.     Dekay's  Report,  p. 

235,  PI-  37,  ng.  120. 
Baione  fontinalis.    Spotted  Troutlet.    Dekay's  Report, 

p.  244,  PL  20,  fig.  58. 

*  A  History  of  the  Fishes  of  Massachusetts,  by  David  Hum- 
phreys Storer,  1867,  pp.  322,  323,  326. 


IQ8  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

Salmo  fontinalis.     Brook  Trout.    Ayres,  Bost.  Journ. 

Nat.  Hist.,  IV.  p.  273. 
Salmo  fontinalis.     Common  Brook  Trout.     Kirtland, 

Bost.  Journ.  Nat.  Hist.,  IV.  p.  305. 
Salmo   fontinalis.      Common    Brook   Trout.      Storer, 

Mem.  Amer.  Acad.,  new  series,  II.  p.  444. 
Salmo  fontinalis.     Common  Brook  Trout.     Synopsis, 

p.   192  ;  Cuv.  &  Val.,  Nat.  Hist,  de  Pois.,  XXI.  p. 

266. 

COLOR.  —  The  upper  part  of  the  body  is  of  a  pale 
brown,  mottled  with  darker  undulating,  reticulated 
markings  ;  the  sides  lighter,  with  a  great  number  of 
circular  yellow  spots,  varying  in  their  size  from  a  small 
point  to  a  line  or  more  in  diameter,  and  many  of  them 
having  in  the  centre  a  bright  red  spot ;  sometimes,  the 
yellow  color  surrounding  them  having  partially  disap- 
peared, they  seem  distinct  from  the  circular  spots,  or 
are  surrounded  by  a  dull  bluish  halo ;  these  red  spots 
differ  exceedingly  in  number  in  different  specimens, 
in  some  three  or  four  only  are  observable,  and  those  are 
situated  below  the  lateral  line  ;  in  others,  twenty  or 
more  are  seen,  scattered  above  and  below  the  lateral 
line  indiscriminately,  presenting  a  beautiful  appear- 
ance. The  body  beneath  is  white,  yellowish-white, 
slightly  or  dark  fuliginous.  Head  above  darker  than 
the  back  of  the  fish.  Gill-covers  golden,  and  fuligi- 
nous. The  dorsal  fin  is  yellow  with  irregular  trans- 
verse black  bands.  The  first  ray  of  the  pectorals  and 
ventrals  is  white,  the  second  dark-colored,  the  remain- 
der of  the  fin  is  red.  The  first  ray  of  the  anal  fin  is 
white,  the  remainder  generally  red.  The  caudal  fin  is 
of  a  dirty  reddish -brown,  mottled  with  black  spots. 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.      199 

DESCRIPTION.  —  Body  elongated,  compressed.  The 
length  of  the  head  is  about  equal  to  one  fifth  the 
length  of  the  fish ;  the  top  of  the  head  is  flattened ; 
the  snout  is  obtuse.  The  eyes  are  large  and  circular. 
The  distance  between  the  eyes  is  equal  to  one  fifth  the 
length  of  the  head.  The  jaws  are  equal  in  length  ; 
the  gape  of  the  mouth  is  large ;  the  teeth  are  sharp 
and  recurved ;  the  teeth  on  the  tongue  are  larger  than 
those  of  the  jaws  ;  there  are  teeth  also  on  the  palatines 
and  romer.  The  scales  are  very  small ;  those  on  the 
lateral  line,  which  pursues  a  straight  course,  are  larger 
than  those  on  the  rest  of  the  body. 

The  quadrangular  dorsal  fin  is  situated  upon  the 
anterior  half  of  the  body;  the  adipose  fin  is  quite 
small,  and  near  the  tail. 

The  pectorals  arise  in  front  of  the  posterior  angle 
of  the  operculum ;  their  length  is  equal  to  one  quarter 
of  their  height. 

The  fan-shaped  ventrals  commence  opposite  the 
middle  of  the  \lorsal  fin  ;  when  unexpanded,  their  ex- 
tremities together  form  a  sharp  point. 

The  anal  fin  arises  in  front  of  the  adipose  fin,  and 
is  higher  than  it  is  long. 

The  caudal  fin  is  deeply  emarginated. 

The  fin-rays  are  as  follows  :  D.  n,  P.  13,  V.  8,  A. 
ii,  C.  19. 

Length,  eight  to  twenty  inches. 

Labrador  :  H.  S.  Storer.  Maine,  Massachusetts  : 
Storer.  Connecticut  :  Linsley,  Ayres.  Vermont : 
Thompson.  New  York  :  Mitchill,  Dekay.  Pennsyl- 
vania :  Dekay.  Ohio :  Kirtland.  Lake  Huron :  Rich- 
ardson. 


2OO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


GENERAL  REMARKS  ABOUT  TROUT. 

The  trout  has  always  stood  at  the  head  of  the  fresh- 
water game  fishes  in  the  popular  estimation.  The 
fickle  public  may  change  its  favorite  some  time  for  a 
more  admired  successor,  but  up  to  this  time  the  trout 
has  distanced  all  rivals.  This  honorable  place  he  has 
gained  and  held,  not  by  accident,  but  by  merit.  He 
deserves  to  rank  by  himself  first,  for  where  has  the 
trout  his  equal  ?  There  may  be  fish  of  nearly  as  fine 
flesh  as  the  trout,  but  they  have  a  repulsive  coat,  like 
the  pout ;  or  a  coarse  appearance,  like  the  bass ;  or  a 
disagreeable  one,  like  the  mascalonge ;  or  are  full  of 
bones,  like  the  shad  ;  or  have  no  game  in  them,  like 
the  mullet ;  or  fail  somewhere  to  match  the  excellent 
points  of  the  trout.  There  is  not  one  of  them  that 
for  perfect  faultlessness  can  compare  with  the  trout. 
This  is  his  special  peculiarity.  He  is  faultless.  He 
surpasses  all  other  fish  in  grace  of  form,  in  beauty 
of  coloring,  in  gentleness  of  expression,  in  fascina- 
tion of  manner,  in  gameness  of  spirit,  in  sweetness 
and  firmness  of  flesh,  and  in  general  personal  attrac- 
tiveness, and  to  excellence  in  these  points  he  also 
combines  faultlessness  in  all  others.  Hence  it  is 
that  he  is  the  favorite  among  fishes,  and  des'erves  to 
be  so. 

Trout  are  peculiarly  suited  to  domestication,  being 
very  hardy,  easily  tamed,  conveniently  confined,  satis- 
fied with  plain  food,  well  adapted  to  artificial  breed- 
ing, prolific  enough  to  increase  rapidly,  and  having  a 
sufficiently  high  value  as  live  game,  or  as  a  table  lux- 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       2OI 

ury,  to  make  it  worth  while  to  raise  them.  I  will  not 
attempt  any  exhaustive  description  of  these  beautiful 
fish  here,  as  they  are  so  well  known,  and  have  been  so 
thoroughly  described  in  books  on  angling  and  on  fish 
in  general,  but  will  confine  myself  to  the  few  general 
remarks  which  follow. 

The  vision  of  the  trout  is  incredibly  sensitive  to 
motion  and  to  colors,  but  not  to  distinctions  of  form. 

As  to  their  sensitiveness  to  motion,  it  may  be  safely 
said  that  a  company  of  soldiers  standing  motionless 
on  the  bank  of  a  trout  brook  would  not  frighten  the 
trout  in  it  so  much  as  the  moving  shadow  of  one  of 
them  across  the  water. 

Their  sensitiveness  to  colors  is  seen  every  week  at 
the  ponds  where  trout  are  domesticated,  especially 
when  their  keeper  changes  a  dark  coat  for  a  light  one, 
or  leaves  it  off  altogether.  The  appearance  of  the  un- 
accustomed light  coat  or  white  shirt  will  often  frighten 
well-tamed  trout  into  a  panic. 

Trout  do  not  appear  to  see  their  food  at  any  great 
distance  in  clear  water,  —  I  should  say  not  over  a  rod, 
and  in  roily  water  but  a  very  short  distance,  some- 
times not  a  foot.  Trout  can  see  somewhat  in  the 
night,  but  I  think  not  in  as  dark  nights  as  some  writ- 
ers have  stated.  If  the  sky  be  clear,  they  will  de- 
tect an  object  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  projected 
against  the  sky,  better  than  in  the  water,  projected 
against  the  'banks.  A  moving  light  above  the  water 
in  the  night  will  frighten  trout ;  a  stationary  light  in 
the  water  will  attract  them,  and  apparently  stupefy 
them,  for  they  are  easily  captured  while  staring  at  it. 


2O2  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

The  eye  of  the  trout  has  very  convex  lenses,  and  is 
not  provided  with  lids  or  any  other  shield  whatever 
from  the  light.  This  makes  bright  sunlight  sometimes 
fatal  to  young  trout  which  have  passed  their  embryo 
period  in  the  dark.  The  eyes  are  situated  above  the 
line  of  the  widest  part  of  the  head,  and  are  a  little 
protuberant,  thus  enabling  them  to  see  above,  before, 
behind,  and  around,  but  not  below  them.  Hence 
they  cannot  feed  off  the  bottom,  except  at  random. 
They  will  dart  at  a  piece  of  food  on  the  bottom,  hit  or 
miss,  if  they  have  seen  it  fall ;  but  you  can  see  that 
they  feel  for  it  with  their  mouths,  rather  than  catch  it 
with  their  eye,  and  their  movements  are  also  then  very 
bungling  compared  with  their  swift,  certain  aim  at  any- 
thing above  them  in  the  water.  They  will  sometimes 
poke  the  food  off  the  bottom  with  their  noses  high 
enough  to  see  it,  and  then  they  will  take  it  as  well  as 
ever. 

The  peculiar  position  of  the  eyes  of  the  trout  has 
been  sometimes  overlooked  in  the  controversy  of  fish- 
ing down  stream  versus  fishing  up  stream.  But  it  is, 
nevertheless,  not  true,  as  advanced  in  the  argument 
against  fishing  up  stream,  that  the  angler  must  neces- 
sarily throw  his  line  over  the  fish's  head  to  attract  his 
notice  to  the  bait,  and  so  be  liable  to  frighten  him ; 
for  the  trout  can  see  the  bait  if  above  and  consider- 
ably behind  him,  and  will  whirl  and  take  it  so  placed, 
if  disposed. 

Opinions  are  divided  about  the  sense  of  hearing  in 
trout.  I  think  that  there  never  was  a  controversy  in 
the  world  in  which  assertions  on  the  subject  were 


GROWING    THE   LARGE    TROUT.  20$ 

more  positively  made  on  the  one  side,  or  more  flatly 
denied  on  the  other.  Scott  says,  very  decidedly,  in 
his  Fishing  in  American  Waters,*  "  Fishes  hear ;  of 
this  I  feel  quite  sure,"  and  quotes  instances  of  fish 
coming  to  be  fed  at  the  sound  of  a  bell.  Seth  Green 
says,  in  his  Trout  Culture,f  that  trout  cannot  hear, 
and  that  "  they  will  not  stir  a  fraction  of  an  inch  at 
the  sound  of  a  gun  fired  one  foot  above  their  heads." 

I  will  not  say  that  trout  cannot  hear ;  but  this  I  will 
say  with  the  greatest  positiveness,  for  I  have  tested  it 
repeatedly,  that  they  are  not  frightened  at  noises,  how- 
ever loud,  nor  do  they  pay  the  slightest  attention  to 
them.  You  may  place  your  mouth  directly  over  the 
trout  in  a  pond,  and  if  they  do  not  see  you,  you  may 
scream  with  all  your  might,  or  ring  a  bell  as  loud  as 
you  please,  and  the  trout  will  not  move  a  fin  to  show 
that  they  are  either  frightened  or  attracted,  or  that 
they  have  in  any  way  noticed  it.  You  may  even  fire 
a  revolver,  or,  as  Green  says,  a  gun,  very  near  them, 
and  if  they  do  not  see  the  flash  or  feel  the  concussion 
they  will  not  notice  it  any  more  than  if  they  were 
stone-deaf. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  are  in  the  habit  of  calling 
the  trout  with  a  bell  to  be  fed,  and  have  found  that 
they  come  at  the  ringing  of  it,  go  to  the  pond  some 
day  at  feeding  time  with  the  tongue  taken  out  of  the 
bell,  and  shake  it  as  usual.  The  trout  will  come 
to  be  fed  exactly  the  same,  though  not  a  sound  is 
made. 

*  Fishing  in  American  Waters,  p.  38. 
t  Trout  Culture,  p.  58. 


2O4  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

The  nerves  of  smell  in  trout  are  large,  and  the  sense 
of  smell  is  probably  well  developed.  Hence  the  use 
of  fragrant  oils  and  strongly  scented  bait  in  fishing  for 

trout. 

HABITAT. 

Brook  trout  abound  chiefly  in  cold,  swift-running 
gravelly  brooks ;  but  they  thrive  in  all  pure  cold  wa- 
ters which  contain  sufficient  air.  Hence  brook  trout 
are  found  in  many  ponds  and  lakes,  which  apparent 
contradiction  of  terms  has  frequently  led  to  confusion 
among  those  unfamiliar  with  fishing.  I  may  be,  there- 
fore, excused  for  saying,  by  way  of  explanation,  that 
the  name  "  brook  trout "  is  not  confined  to  trout  caught 
in  brooks,  but  applies  to  all  of  the  varieties  of  Salmo 
fontlnalis,  whether  found  in  brooks,  ponds,  lakes,  or 
rivers.  Their  range  is  very  extensive,  covering  a  wide 
belt  from  one  end  of  our  continent  to  the  other.  In 
phrenological  language,  their  locality  is  very  large, 
which  gives  them  a  strong  attachment  to  places.  In 
brooks,  certain  individuals  will  take  up  particular 
holes  or  rapids  for  their  abode,  and  occupy  them  for 
months,  and  sometimes,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  for 
years. 

In  lakes  and  ponds,  the  shoals  of  trout  have,  like 
perch  and  other  fish,  particular  resting-places,  where 
they  stay  regularly.  This  is  one  reason  why  a  person 
acquainted  with  their  haunts  will  go  out  and  catch  a 
string  of  trout,  while  others,  with  better  tackle  and 
equal  skill,  will  fish  a  whole  day  for  them  in  vain. 

The  largest  trout  in  brooks  are  found  in  the  deep 
wide  pools  in  the  warmer  waters.  The  smallest  ones  are 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       2O5 

found  in  the  cold,  narrow  mountain  rivulets  near  their 
source.  The  largest  brook  trout  of  all  are  found  in 
large  lakes,  where  range,  space,  feed,  warmth  of  water, 
and  perhaps  inherited  tendencies,  all  combine  to  pro- 
duce a  large  race. 

Trout,  like  other  fishes,  have  small  brains  compared 
with  the  higher  animals,  and  are  very  slightly  sensi- 
tive to  pain. 

They  have  a  rapid  digestion,  which,  though  not 
equal  to  that  of  a  pickerel,*  and  some  warm-water 
fishes,  makes  them  susceptible  to  very  quick  growth 
indeed  under  favorable  circumstances.  Trout  have 
this  peculiarity  also,  that  they  vary  from  one  another 
in  their  personal  appearance  to  an  endless  degree. 
No  two  trout  are  alike.  Every  trout  has  its  individual 
markings,  as  much  as  human  beings,  which  distin- 
guish it  from  all  other  trout.  A  mullet  caught  in  a 
lake  looks  like  all  the  other  mullets  of  the  lake,  so 
with  the  white-fish  and  others ;  but  each  trout  has  its 
individual  marks  which  distinguish  it  from  all  others. 
The  trout  also  of  different  brooks  and  lakes  all  differ 
from  one  another,  so  that  the  streams  in  which  they 
are  caught  can  frequently  be  told  by  the  looks  of  the 
fish.  Their  different  localities  in  the  same  stream  also 
affect  their  appearance.  Over  a  light  gravelly  bot- 
tom the  trout  grow  light-complexioned,  and  they  vary 
through  all  shades  of  complexion,  from  this  to  the 
dark  slimy  trout,  almost  as  black  as  a  bull-head,  which 

*  Most  fish  have  a  rapid  digestion.  Bertram  compares  the 
digestion  of  some  to  the  action  of  fire.  Harvest  of  the  Sea, 
p.  4. 


206  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

is  caught  in  shady  places  over  black,  muddy  bottoms. 
And  what  is  still  more  remarkable,  trout  have  the 
chameleon  gift  of  almost  instantly  changing  their  tint 
within  certain  limits.* 

They  do  not,  strictly  speaking,  change  their  color, 
because  a  black  trout  will  remain  a  black  trout  and  a 
silvery  trout  will  remain  a  silvery  trout  wherever  you 
expose  them ;  but  a  complete  change  comes  over 
their  whole  complexion,  so  to  speak,  as  if  the  light  to 
which  they  are  subjected  were  diffused  through  them, 
so  that,  in  passing  from  a  dark,  muddy  bed  over  light 
gravel,  they  will  in  less  than  a  minute  take  the  general 
hue  of  the  gravel,  and  vice  versa  in  passing  from 
gravel  to  mud.f 

The  natural  food  of  trout  is  very  various.  They 
are  carnivorous  from  choice,  though  omnivorous  in 
emergency.  Their  food,  when  wild,  consists  chiefly 
of  water  insects,  smaller  fish,  larvae,  fish  eggs,  crusta- 
cea,  and  the  flies  and  insects  which  fall  from  the  air 
into  the  water,  —  all  of  them  together  forming  an 
astonishingly  extensive  variety.  They  also  eat  each 
other,  and  there  are  some  individuals  which  adopt 
cannibal  habits  altogether,  and  remain  hidden,  like 
spiders,  in  dark  holes  and  corners,  and  only  emerge 
to  devour  their  like. 

The  quality  of  their  food  affects  the  growth  and  ap- 
pearance of  trout,  and  it  is  even  thought  that  the  dif- 

*  The  black  bass  and  some  other  fish  have  the  same  power 
to  some  extent. 

t  This  change  takes  place,  not  in  the  scales,  but  in  the  skin 
underlying  the  scales. 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       2O/ 

ference  in  the  color  of  their  meat  is  sometimes  caused 
by  certain  kinds  of  feed ;  the  fresh-water  gammon  or 
polex  being  supposed  especially  favorable  to  the  pro- 
duction of  red-meated  trout. 

It  is  certainly  true  that  their  growth  depends  very 
much  upon  the  nature  of  their  food.  Francis,  in  his 
Fish  Culture,  mentions  the  following  experiment,  of 
which  he  says  he  once  heard.* 

"  Equal  numbers  of  trout  were  confined  for  a  certain 
time  by  gratings  to  their  several  portions  of  the  same 
stream.  The  fish  in  one  of  the  divisions  were  fed  en- 
tirely on  flies,  in  another  upon  minnows,  and  in  the 
third  upon  worms.  At  the  end  of  a  certain  period, 
those  which  had  been  fed  on  flies  were  the  heaviest 
and  in  the  best  condition,  those  fed  on  minnows  oc- 
cupied the  second  place,  while  those  fed  on  worms 
were  in  much  the  worst  order  of  the  three."  f 

The  age  to  which  trout  live  is  not  known.  Seth 
Green  says  that  twelve  years  is  probably  about  the 
average  age,  and  that  they  are  in  their  prime  between 
the  age  of  three  years  and  ten  years.  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  they  live  to  a  greater  age  than  this. 
Other  kinds  of  fish  in  parks  in  the  Old  World  are 
known  to  have  attained  enormous  ages,$  and  to  have 

*  Francis  on  Fish  Culture,  p.  113. 

t  The  result  of  these  experiments  should  be  received  cau- 
tiously, as  it  is  doubtful  whether  all  the  other  modifying  condi- 
tions were  so  exactly  alike  that  the  results  were  wholly  due  to  the 
difference  of  food.  For  illustration,  a  considerable  difference  in 
temperature,  or  in  the  quantity  of  food,  would  affect  the  condition 
of  the  fish  more  than  the  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  food. 

\  Pike  and  carp  in  artificial  ponds  have  been  repeatedly  found 


2O8  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

been  equalled  only  in  their  longevity  by  the  human 
race  before  the  flood.  Why  should  the  trout  be  so 
short-lived  ? 

Mr.  Lancaster,  of  Oxford,  in  a  memoir  published 
last  year,  says  that  fish  have  great  tenacity  of  life, 
and  mentions  a  carp  that  reached  the  age  of  150 
years,  and  a  pike,  19  feet  long,  that  lived  in  a  fish- 
pond in  Germany  267  years.*  He  says  whales  are 
believed  to  live  one  or  two  centuries. 

The  size  to  which  brook  trout  may  grow  is  very  un- 
certain, and  when  we  come  to  the  question  of  the  size 
of  those  that  have  been  actually  caught  we  are  on 
mythical  ground.  The  trouble  is,  as  Green  mentions, 
that  many  of  the  "  fish  stories  "  which  are  told  are  so 
incredible  t  that  they  throw  discredit  on  even  well-au- 
thenticated cases.  J  I  am  fortunate  enough,  however, 
through  the  kindness  of  George  Shepard  Page,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Oquossoc  Angling  Association,  and  B.  F. 
Bowles,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  same  Association,  to 
cite  three  instances  of  unquestionable  authenticity,  of 

with  gold  rings  in  their  fins,  and  other  kinds  of  labels,  on  which 
were  found  dates  that  proved  conclusively  that  one  hundred  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  inscription  was  made.  —  JOE  SMITH,  Nat. 
His.  Mass.  Fishes,  p.  57. 

*  The  greatest  wonder  about  such  a  fish,  if  he  were  in  this 
country,  would  be  that  he  had  escaped  the  poachers  so  long. 

t  A  famous  fish-story  teller  once  said  that  he  cut  a  hole 
through  the  ice  at  Lake  Erie,  not  more  than  two  inches  across, 
with  his  pocket-knife,  and  presently  pulled  out  a  mascalonge 
that  weighed  a  hundred  pounds.  On  being  asked  how  he  drew 
so  large  a  fish  through  so  small  a  hole,  he  replied  that  he  had 
not  thought  of  that. 

J  Trout  Culture,  p.  45. 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       2OQ 

trout  \Salmofontinalis]  actually  caught,  which  weighed 
between  9  and  10  pounds.  They  are  as  follows.  In 
September,  1867,  Mr.  Geo.  S.  Page  caught  at  the  outlet 
of  Rangeley  Lake,  Franklin  Co.,  Maine,  two  male 
trout,  one  weighing  10  pounds,  the  other  9^  pounds. 
In  June,  1871,  Theo.  L.  Page,  Esq.,  caught  a  trout  in 
Mooseluc  Maguntic  Lake,  in  the  same  county,  weigh- 
ing 9!  pounds.  These  are  the  largest  brook  trout  in 
regard  to  which  I  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  well- 
attested  statistics,  after  making  inquiries  in  various  di- 
rections ;  and  I  think  it  is  safe  to  venture  the  assertion 
that  these  trout,  if  not  the  largest  individuals  ever 
caught  in  this  country,  are  representatives  of  the 
largest  type  of  the  Salmo  fontinalis  in  the  United 
States.*  The  weight  of  trout  is  very  deceptive.  There 
is  no  safe  test  but  the  scales.  The  length  is  no  guide, 
for  his  depth  and  breadth  will  often  in  a  short  trout 
more  than  compensate  in  weight  for  what  is  lacking  in 
length,  and  then  again  a  lean  trout  in  poor  condition 
sometimes  actually  does  not  weigh  more  than  half 

*  The  following  letter  gives  a  fuller  account  of  the  large  trout 
caught  by  Mr.  Page  :  — 

10  WARREN  STREET,  NEW  YORK,  August  14,  1871. 

LIVINGSTON  STONE,  ESQ. 

DEAR  SIR  :  In  reply  to  yours  of  the  5th  instant,  making  in- 
quiries with  regard  to  brook  trout,  I  have  much  pleasure  in  men- 
tioning three,  caught  in  September,  1867,  by  the  subscriber  at 
the  outlet  of  Rangeley  Lake,  Franklin  County,  Maine,  —  this 
lake  being  the  head-waters  of  the  Androscoggin  River  :  — 

One  10  Ibs.  male, 

One  9^  Ibs.   do., 

One  %l  Ibs.  female. 
The  first  and  last  were- transported  alive  in  a  box  of  water, 

N 


2IO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

what  he  would  when  fat  and  in  his  best  condition. 
This  is  a  great  difference,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  a  fact.  It 
is  said  by  medical  authorities  that  a  man  cannot  lose 
over  three  eighths  of  his  weight  and  live.  It  is  not  so 
with  a  trout ;  he  can  lose  full  fifty  per  cent  and  live. 

SECTION  II.  —  THE  COMMISSARY  DEPARTMENT. 

The  question  of  food  for  trout  is  a  very  important 
one,  and  I  think,  as  a  general  thing,  a  very  simple  one 
too,  though  some  printed  remarks  on  the  subject  have 
made  it  appear  complicated. 

The  one  correct  thing  to  feed  trout  on,  as  a  rule,  is 
the  heart,  liver,  and  lungs  of  animals  killed  for  market. 
These  combine  the  three  desired  points  of  trout  food. 
They  are  cheap,  nutritious,  and  accessible. 

THEY  ARE  CHEAP, 

averaging  in  the  country  about  thr  e  cents  a  pound. 
It  is  true  that  liver  in  thickly  settled  places  costs  ten 
cents  per  pound,  and  if  you  should  feed  the  trout  en- 
tirely on  liver  in  those  places  it  would  be  very  expen- 

aerated  by  an  air-pump,  to  my  pond  in  Stanley,  Morris  County, 
N.  J.,but  afterwards  died  in  consequence  of  too  high  a  tempera- 
ture in  the  water.     The  first  weighed  ten  (10)  Ibs.  by  steelyard 
within  a  half-hour  after  death.     It  is  now  in  a  glass  case  in  my 
office  in  New  York.     The  9^  Ibs.  trout  was  sent  to  General  Grant. 
Two  of  the  trout  from  these  waters  I  have  sent  to  Professor 
Agassiz,  in  1863  and  in  1867,  and  in  a  personal  interview  he  pro- 
nounced them  real  Brook  Trout  (Salmo  fontinalis}. 
Faithfully  yours, 

GEO.    SHEPARD   PAGE, 

Pres't  Oquossoc  Ang.  Ass. 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       211 

sive  feeding.  But  the  lungs  are  quite  as  good  food 
for  trout  as  liver,  and  better  in  some  respects.  The 
lungs  can  be  bought  in  any  community  for  two  cents 
a  pound.  Sheep's  and  Jambs'  plucks  can  also  be 
bought  for  the  same.  As  a  general  thing,  in  the  more 
thickly  settled  places  the  lungs  and  sheep's  plucks  are 
cheaper  than  in  the  country,  because  of  the  greater 
number  of  animals  killed  in  such  localities.  While 
food  can  be  bought  at  these  figures,  trout  can  be  profit- 
ably raised  at  half  the  present  market-prices.  This 
kind  of  food  is  accessible.  Wherever  there  is  a  com- 
munity of  any  size,  cattle  and  sheep  are  killed  for  its 
support,  and  wherever  these  are  killed  the  plucks  may 
be  procured.  This  class  of  food  can  always  be  ob- 
tained also  at  the  great  cattle  markets,  like  Brighton 
and  Cambridge  in  Massachusetts,  where  it  can-  be 
bought  so  low,  that,  with  a  hundred  miles'  express- 
charges  added,  it  will  not  cost  over  the  average  price 
in  the  country  of  three  cents  a  pound. 

THEY  ARE  NUTRITIOUS. 

The  plucks  of  animals,  being  solid  fresh  meat,  are 
the  most  nutritious  food  in  the  world  for  trout,  and 
cannot  be  objectionable  in  this  respect.  This  food,  I 
should  say,  then,  should  form  the  chief  reliance  of  the 
trout-grower. 

To  prepare  it  for  the  fish,  run  it  raw  through  a 
common  sausage-grinder,  and  it  is  then  ready  to  feed 
to  them. 

Various  other  things  can  be  used  for  food,  and  the 
best  among  these  are  :  — 


212  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

1.  Other  kinds  of  meat. 

2.  Live  minnows. 

3.  Fish-flesh  ground  up. 

4.  Sour-milk  curd.  t 

5.  Worms  and  insects. 

1.  Other  kinds  of  meat.     Trout,  being  carnivorous, 
will  always  thrive  on  meat.     Therefore,  any  kind  of 
meat,  whether  raw  or  boiled,  which  is  cheap  enough 
and  convenient  enough,  makes  suitable  food  for  them. 
Horse-flesh,*  young  calves,  and  scant  sheep  would  an- 
swer for  trout-food,  and  are  also  cheap. 

2.  Live  minjiows.     These   unquestionably   form    a 
very  desirable  article  of  food  for  trout,  and  should  be 
given  them  when  they  can  be  afforded.     They  are  natu- 
ral food,  and  at  the  same  time  furnish  a  wholesome 
change  from  the  usual  meat  diet.     In  some  favorable 
places  they  can  be  obtained  in  vast  quantities,  and  are 
the  cheapest  food  that  can  be  had.     These  are  excep- 
tional localities,  it  is  true  ;  but  in  almost  all  brooks  they 
can  be  collected  in  considerable  quantities  by  shutting 
off  the  stream  above,  and  netting  them  out  of  the  little 
pools  in  which  they  are  trapped  by  the  receding  water. 

The  use  of  live  minnows  in  large  ponds  has  been 
objected  to  on  the  ground  that  minnows,  living  on 
the  same  insects  and  other  food  as  the  trout,  rob  the 
trout  of  what  they  would  otherwise  get  themselves. 
This  objection  has  some  weight,  it  is  true,  in  itself; 
but  it  is  more  than  offset  by  the  value  of  the  min- 
nows to  the  trout.  The  minnows  more  than  com- 
pensate in  themselves  to  the  trout  for  what  they 
*  Paris  lived  on  horse-flesh ;  why  should  not  trout  ? 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       213 

eat.     I  would  give  the  trout  all  the  minnows  I  could 
get. 

There  is  another  objection  which  deserves  more 
consideration,  and  this  is  that  in  amateur  trout  ponds, 
where  large  and  small  trout  are  kept  together  without 
sorting,  the  habit  of  feeding  on  minnows  may  encour- 
age the  bad  habit,  in  the  trout,  of  feeding  on  each 
other.  In  this  case  I  would  take  a  day  or  two  for  the 
work,  and  sort  the  fish  thoroughly,  and  then  let  them 
have  the  minnows ;  but  if  this  cannot  be  done,  per- 
haps the  objection  against  the  minnows  holds  good. 

3.  Fish  flesh  ground  up.     This  is  undoubtedly  good 
food  for  trout,  and  in  some  districts  fish  are  so  plenty 
that  it  is  the  cheapest  and  most  accessible  food.     For 
instance,  on  the  Mirimichi  River,  where  smelts  are  used 
to  manure  the  land,  or  on  the  Missisquoi,  where  a  large 
sturgeon  can  be  bought  for  a  dollar,  and  perch  for 
nothing,  these  or  other  fish,  killed  and  run   through 
a  mill  such  as  is  used  for  grinding  mackerel  bait,  would 
answer  quite  as  well  as  meat     Trout  like  meat  best, 
but  thrive  well  on  fish  food. 

4.  Sour-milk  curd.     This  makes  very  good  food  for 
trout,  though  they  do   not  like   it  as  well   as  meat. 
It   is   easily  prepared   by  pouring   boiling  water   on 
bonny-clabber  and  straining  out  the  whey.     What  re- 
mains   in   the  strainer   is    the  curd.      When   milk   is 
plenty,  this  food  is  very  accessible,  and  also  not  ex- 
pensive, and  makes  a  very  good  occasional  substitute 
for  meat;   but  an   exclusive  diet  of  curd  is  thought 
to  be  unhealthful. 

5.  Worms  and  insects.     These,  of  course,  with  all 


214  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

other  natural  food,  are  good  for  the  trout.  Give  them 
all  you  can  get,  which,  after  all,  will  not  be  much,  com- 
pared with  the  rest  of  their  food,  if  you  have  many 
trout.  You  can,  however,  breed  maggots  for  them  in 
considerable  numbers  by  hanging  the  meat  over  the 
ponds  and  letting  the  flies  work  in  it.  This  is  called 
a  maggot  factory,  and,  though  a  good  food-producer, 
especially  for  yearlings,  is  to  my  mind  very  objection- 
able about  a  domestic  trout  pond.  If  you  have  a  pond 
at  a  distance  which  you  seldom  visit,  a  maggot  factory 
will  do  very  well ;  but  where  you  go  every  day,  it  is  a 
nuisance.  If  you  do  use  one  anywhere,  contrive  to 
cover  the  meat  with  a  box.  This  softens  the  objec- 
tionableness  of  it  somewhat. 

A  few  words  more  should  be  added  here  about  the 
care  and  preparation  of  the  meat,  where  trout  breeding 
is  practised  on  a  large  scale.  At  a  trout  breeding 
establishment  in  full  operation  there  are  three  distinct 
sets  of  fish,  the  young  fry,  the  yearlings,  and  the  large 
trout,  and  there  should  be  a  dog".  These  three  sets 
of  trout  require  three  different  preparations  of  meat. 
For  the  young  fry  the  liver  is  used,  and  is  prepared  by 
grating  it  on  a  cheese-grater,  as  described  in  the  chap- 
ter on  young  fry.  For  the  yearlings  the  heart  is  used, 
and  is  cut  up  in  a  meat-cutter,  which  will  cut  it  finer 
than  the  sausage-grinder.  For  the  large  trout  the 
meat  that  is  left  is  run  through  the  sausage-grinder, 
except  the  coarser  parts,  which  are  given  to  the  dog. 
The  heart  is  used  for  the  yearlings,  simply  because  it 
will  cut  up  better  in  the  cutter.* 

*  The  cutter  used  at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  is  Star- 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.      21 5 


Starret's  American  Chopping  Machine. 

When,  therefore,  the  meat  is  brought  to  the  ponds, 
it  is  first  sorted  ;  the  liver  is  cut  off  and  laid  aside  for 
the  young  fish,  the  best  part  of  the  heart  is  cut  off  for 
the  yearlings,  the  coarser  pieces  are  saved  for  the  dog, 
and  the  rest  is  run  through  the  grinder  for  the  large 
fish.  This  systematizes  the  whole  thing,  and  disposes 
of  all  the  meat. 

In  the  spring  and  fall  you  will  have  no  trouble  in 
keeping  the  meat ;  but  in  the  summer  and  winter  it  is 
different.  The  meat  freezes  solid  in  winter,  and  spoils 
quickly  in  summer,  and  in  the  exceedingly  hot  weather 
it  is  sometimes  very  troublesome.  Your  great  protec- 
tion against  these  evils  lies  in  the  spring  water.  Keep 
the  meat  in  the  cold  spring  water,  and  it  will  not  spoil 
in  the  summer  within  a  reasonable  time,  nor  freeze  in 
the  winter.  It  is  true  that  remaining  under  water  does 

ret's  American  Chopping  Machine,  and  the  sausage-grinder  is 
Perry's  Patent  No.  4.     Both  answer  their  purpose  very  well. 


2l6  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

not  improve  its  quality  ;  but  the  other  advantages  are 
more  than  sufficient,  at  extreme  temperatures,  to  offset 
this  objection.  Do  not  feed  spoiled  meat  to  the  fish. 
If  you  ever  have  any  on  hand,  bury  it  in  some  place 
set  apart  for  that  purpose.* 

The  trout  feed  differently  at  different  seasons  of  the 
year. ,  In  the  spring,  when  the  water  begins  to  warm 
up,  they  are  most  voracious,  and  will  eat  a  larger  daily 
allowance  for  their  weight  than  at  any  other  part  of 
the  year.  During  the  first  half  of  the  summer  their 
appetite  does  not  diminish  much,  except  when  the  wa- 
ter gets  heated.  When  this  occurs,  they  do  not  care  so 
much  for  food.  Mr.  Ainsworth  found  that  his  trout  in 
New  York  stopped  eating  at  70°.  Mine  continue  to 
take  food  up  to  75°.  Above  that  they  are  more  or 
less  indifferent  to  it.  As  the  spawning  season  ap- 
proaches, the  trout  care  less  and  less  for  food,  and  just 
at  their  spawning  time,  and  a  week  or  two  previous, 
they  avoid  it,  and  go  without  eating  entirely.  When 
their  spawning  is  over  they  eat  again,  and  are  quite 
ravenous  on  warm  days,  and  where  the  temperature  of 
the  water  does  not  alter  much  they  feed  well  all  winter ; 
but  in  brooks  or  ponds  where  the  water  cools  with  the 
season  their  appetite  falls  off,  and  when  the  water 
drops  to  36°,  or  less,  they  either  scarcely  notice  the 
food  or  take  it  very  languidly.  At  this  degree  of  cold 
they  are  in  a  torpid  condition,  and  there  is  about  as 
much  difference  between  their  spring  and  elasticity  at 
this  time  and  in  the  summer,  as  there  is  between  the 

*  This  place  at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  has  been  nick- 
named the  "Potter's  Field." 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       21  / 

movements  of  a  mud-turtle  and  a  Scotch  terrier  after 
rats.  On  mild  days  in  winter  when  the  sun  warms  the 
water,  or  after  a  warm  rain,  they  will  wake  up  from 
their  lethargy  and  eat  as  they  do  in  summer.  These 
are  the  times  when  they  will  indulge  their  cannibal 
instincts  if  they  are  not  fed,  and  you  should  be  prompt 
on  such  days  to  anticipate  their  unusual  appetite  with 
proper  food. 

Trout  feed  differently  at  different  times  in  the  day. 
In  the  winter  the  favorable  time  is  the  warmest  part 
of  the  day.  In  summer  they  take  their  food  best 
about  sundown  ;  they  are  very  lively  then  both  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  and  will  leap  out  of  the  water  and 
lash  the  surface  with  their  tails  in  a  way  that  is  very 
exhilarating  to  see. 

When  the  keeper  approaches  to  feed  them,  they  will 
come  towards  him,  or  will  collect  in  their  accustomed 
place  of  eating,  if  they  have  not  been  disturbed ;  but 
if  they  have  been  molested  they  will  fly  about  in  all 
directions,  stir  up  the  gravel,  reject  their  food,  and  act 
as  if  they  were  crazy.  This  is  a  bad  sign,  and  when 
you  see  it  you  may  know  that  it  means  that  they  have 
been  molested  and  frightened  during  the  night,  prob- 
ably by  minks,  herons,  or  men. 

Once  a  day  is  sufficiently  often  to  feed  the  large 
trout.  They  will  keep  fat  and  grow  rapidly  on  one 
feed  a  day ;  but  I  think  they  would  grow  somewhat 
better  if  fed  oftener  and  less  at  a  time.  There  is  not 
much  danger  of  their  eating  too  much.  Feed  till  they 
decline  the  food,  then  stop.  They  will  sometimes  take 
too  large  pieces,  and  so  choke  themselves  to  death, 
10 


21 8  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

and  they  will  perhaps  eat  enough  in  the  excitement  of 
feeding  time  to  feel  uncomfortably  afterwards  ;  but 
they  are  usually  not  gluttons  enough  to  gorge  them- 
selves to  a  fatal  repletion. 

Experience  will  teach  the  trout  grower  how  much  to 
feed  daily  to  a  given  number  of  trout.  This  quantity 
varies  with  the  season,  the  quality,  the  quantity,  and 
temperature  of  the  water,  and  other  circumstances, 
and  cannot  be  stated  definitely.  Green  says  five 
pounds  of  meat  a  day  for  a  thousand  three-year-olds, 
three  pounds  for  a  thousand  two-year-olds.  I  should 
say  this  would  be  an  average  feed  through  the  year, 
but  in  summer  my  two-year-olds  and  three-year-olds 
eat  much  more.  I  think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  under 
favorable  circumstances  large  trout  of  any  age  will  eat 
one  fiftieth  of  their  weight  in  the  summer,  that  one  per 
cent  of  their  weight  a  day  will  keep  them  in  good 
condition  through  the  year,  and  that  they  would  do 
very  well  on  half  that  allowance.  I  have  also  ob- 
served that  with  two-year-olds  and  three-year-olds  five 
pounds  of  meat  food  is  an  equivalent  for  one  pound 
of  trout  growth. 

SECTION  III.  —  How  TO  SECURE  THE  LARGE  TROUT 

AGAINST    LOSS. 

There  is  no  domesticated  creature  in  the  world  that 
can  be  kept  with  so  little  loss  as  large  trout,  if  care- 
fully protected.  Indeed,  the  loss  is  almost  nothing. 
The  large  trout  keep  healthy  and  vigorous  at  all  sea- 
sons, and  very  rarely  die  if  properly  cared  for  ;  though 
if  they  are  carelessly  exposed  they  will  waste  away  like 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       2IQ 

dew  before  the  sun.  If  you  observe  the  following  di- 
rections, many  of  which  are  only  repetitions  of  what  has 
been  previously  said,  I  think  your  trout  will  be  safe :  — 

1.  Guard  against  freshets. 

2.  Avoid  overstocking. 

3.  Guard  against  heated  water. 

4.  Handle  carefully. 

5.  Keep  the  trout  well  sorted. 

6.  Never  let  the  water  get  foul. 

7.  Protect  from  natural  enemies. 

8.  Protect  from  poachers. 

1.  Guard  against  freshets.     So  much  has  been  said 
under  this  head  in  the  chapter  on  suitable  water,  that 
we  will  merely  refer  the  reader  to  that  chapter,  saying, 
en  passant,  that  the  danger  from  this  source  cannot  be 
overestimated,  and  that  the  losses,  when  they  do  oc- 
cur, are  usually  overwhelming. 

2.  Avoid  overstocking.     There  is  no  indiscretion  in 
the  world  so  easy  for  a  trout  breeder  to  fall  into  as 
overstocking  his  ponds  when  he  has  many  fish  and  not 
much  water* ;  but  I  need  not  say  it  is  a  fatal  mistake. 
There  is  usually  a  very  dry  hot  time  in  the  summer, 
which,  if  not  a  fiery  furnace,  is,  at  least,  a  watery  fur- 
nace for  the  trout  to  pass  through  ;  and  it  is  often  hard 
in  the  fall,  winter,  or  spring,  when  the  deceitful  water 
is  cold,  and  there  is  plenty  of  it,  to  realize  what  the 
inexorable  exactions  of  this  ordeal  will  be  ;    and  al- 
most without  knowing  it  the  trout  breeder  will  some- 
times get  more  trout  into  his  stream  than  it  will  carry 
through  the  summer.     Therefore  the  beginner  cannot 

*  See  remarks  on  water  supply  and  droughts,  pp.  11-12. 


22O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

too  carefully  impress  on  his  mind  the  simple  truism 
that  no  stream  can  be  relied  on  for  more  than  what  it 
will  do  in  the  hottest  and  dryest  day  of  the  hottest 
and  dryest  season  of  the  year,  and  this  principle 
should  be  acted  upon.  If,  however,  you  ever  happen 
to  have  on  hand  more  than  you  know  you  can  sum- 
mer in  your  stream,  there  is  a  very  simple  way  to  get 
over  the  difficulty,  and  one  which  I  have  often  re- 
sorted to,  namely,  to  turn  some  of  the  trout  out  to 
pasture  through  the  dry  time.  I  mean  by  this  to 
carry  them  off  to  some  neighboring  brook  where 
you  have  provided  a  temporary  enclosure  for  them 
through  the  dangerous  crisis  ;  this  is  not  a  difficult 
matter,  and  if  you  want  the  spawn  from  them  in  the 
fall  it  is  expedient  to  do  it,  taking  the  precaution  to 
remove  them  on  cool  mornings  when  the  transporta- 
tion and  handling  will  not  be  likely  to  hurt  them. 

If  you  have  too  many  on  hand  in  the  spring,  and 
have  no  means  of  pasturing  them,  then  kill  and  sell 
them  for  what  you  can  get  while  they  are  in  good  con- 
dition ;  it  is  better  than  to  have  them  die  of  the  heat. 
If  you  know  of  no  one  that  wants  them,  then  pack 
them  in  ice,  and  consign  them  to  some  good  firm  in 
Fulton  Fish  Market,  New  York  City,  to  sell  on  com- 
mission. Fresh  brook  trout  are  always  in  demand 
there. 

But  if  the  dry  time  comes  suddenly,  and  you  are 
caught  with  too  many  trout  on  hand  and  a  short  supply 
of  water,  you  have  two  remedies.  One  is  to  use  ice ; 
if  you  are  not  in  a  very  bad  predicament,  a  moderate 
quantity  of  ice,  used  three  hours  a  day,  —  the  hot 


*  GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       221 


interval  between  i  p.  M.  and  4  P.  M.  being  the  worst 
time  for  the  water,  —  will  often  save  them.  The  other 
remedy  is  to  reservoir  part  of  the  water  in  the  stream 
above  the  trout  during  the  cool  of  the  night,  and  let  it 
on  by  degrees  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  day;  this  will 
answer  to  some  extent,  when  the  days  only  are  hot.  But 
if  the  heat  and  drought  are  extreme  and  long  continued, 
and  nights  and  days  are  both  hot,  then  neither  ice  nor 
reserves  of  water  will  save  your  trout  in  an  overstocked 
pond,  and  you  must  lose  them.  I  will  merely  add  that 
a  plethoric  condition  of  the  fish,  and  an  uncleanly  pond, 
increase  very  much  the  dangers  of  the  dry  season. 

3.  Guard  against  heated  water.  This  point  is  some- 
what related  to  the  last,  inasmuch  as  the  water  is  usu- 
ally the  hottest  at  the  dryest  time,  and  the  warmer  it 
is  the  less  stock  it  will  keep.  But  there  is  also  danger 
of  the  water  heating  up  enough  to  kill  the  fish,  even 
when  there  is  plenty  of  it  and  the  season  is  not  par- 
ticularly dry.  This  point  has  also  been  discussed  on 
page  12,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred.  I  will  re- 
peat here  that  the  extreme  limit  of  danger  is  variable, 
depending  upon  the  quantity,  quality,  and  rapidity  of 
the  water,  and  also  upon  the  degree  of  exposure  to 
the  sun,  and  the  condition  of  the  fish. 

The  trout  exhibited  by  the  writer  at  the  Mechanics' 
Fair,  at  Boston,  in  1869,  appeared  easy  with  a  medium 
supply  of  water  at  68°.  At  70°  they  were  a  little  dis- 
tressed, at  73°  much  distressed,  and  breathing  at  the 
rate  of  100  times  a  minute.  Mr.  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth, 
in  a  letter  to  the  writer,  says  that  68°  is  the  highest 
temperature  that  his  trout  do  well  in,  at  70°  they  stop 


222  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

eating,  at  75°  begin  to  die,  at  80°  die  faster,  and  at 
90°  all  die.  Seth  Green's  book  says  that  trout  will 
die  at  68°.*  This  may  be  the  case  in  New  York,  but 
it  is  not  so  in  New  England.  Trout  in  our  vigorous 
swift  running  water  will  sometimes  live  through  75°. 
Still  I  consider  75°  very  dangerous,  and  anything  over 
70°  unsafe. 

There  is  no  remedy  for  the  water  heating  up,  except 
artificial  cooling.  If  you  have  ice  enough,  you  can  do 
something  in  that  direction  in  a  small  stream  as  long 
as  the  ice  lasts ;  but  it  is  a  forlorn  hope.  However, 
if  you  find  the  water  heating  to  a  fatal  extent,  and 
think  it  worth  while  to  try  to  save  them  with  ice,  first 
diminish  their  rations  or  stop  them  altogether,  make 
the  current  as  swift  as  possible,  and  then  do  what  you 
can  with  ice.  You  will  probably  save  some,  if  the 
heated  term  does  not  last  too  long.  But  if  your  brook 
heats  up  so  as  to  require  the  application  of  ice,  in  any 
but  very  exceptional  instances  I  should  say  select 
another  place  for  your  operations.  Ice  may  save  the 
fish,  but  it  is  paying  too  dear  for  the  whistle,  and  it  is 
coming  a  little  too  near  danger  to  be  desirable. 

4.  Handle  the  fish  carefully.  Handle  the  fish  care- 
fully when  you  have  occasion  to  handle  them  at  all, 
which  will  not  be  often,  except  in  sorting,  in  moving 
from  one  pond  to  another,  and  in  spawning.  It  makes 
a  great  difference  in  handling  and  carrying  trout 
whether  it  is  hot  or  cold  weather.  In  winter  you  can 
do  almost  anything  with  them,  short  of  using  actual 
violence,  without  killing  them ;  but  in  very  hot  weather 

*  Trout  Culture,  p.  52. 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       223 

in  summer,  when  they  are  fat  and  the  water  is  warm, 
they  actually  seem  to  die  before  they  are  hurt. 

Rough  handling  is  very  often  the  cause  of  death  ; 
but  it  is  a  very  unnecessary  and  inexcusable  cause. 
All  the  handling  that  needs  to  be  done  can,  ninety-nine 
times  in  a  hundred,  be  done  without  hurting  the  fish. 
The  suggestions  given  in  the  chapter  on  spawning 
trout  will  perhaps  be  a  sufficient  guide  on  this  point. 
I  would  by  all  means  dissect  at  least  one  fish,  and  find 
where  the  vitals  lie,  and  just  how  the  viscera  are 
packed  together  inside.  You  will  find  you  can,  by 
practice,  squeeze  a  fish  very  hard,  if  you  know  where 
the  vitals  are,  without  killing  it.  Always  be  careful 
not  to  scrape  off  the  slime  from  the  skin,  for  where 
the  slime  is  off  fungus  will  grow,  and  the  result  is 
death. 

5.  Keep  your  trout  well  sorted.  I  know  that  it  is 
often  said,  "  Feed  your  trout  well,  and  they  will  not  eat 
each  other."  Perhaps  they  will  not,  but  it  is  not  pru- 
dent to  trust  them.  It  is  a  risk,  to  say  the  least  of  it, 
to  keep  fish  of  different  sizes  in  a  herd  together,  and, 
being  a  risk,  it  ought  to  be  avoided  on  principle.  If 
any  one  doubts  whether  actual  mischief  is  done  by  it, 
let  him  put  five  hundred  trout  of  different  sizes  in  a 
pond  for  a  year,  and  take  them  out  at  the  end  of  that 
time  and  count  them  over  again.  I  think  he  will  be 
convinced.  This  is  something  that  some  trout  growers 
are  altogether  too  careless  about.  They  would  not 
think  of  keeping  foxes  and  fowls  together,  even  if  the 
foxes  were  well  fed,  yet  they  run  equal  risk  with  their 
trout,  and  think  nothing  of  it.  I  have  seen  more  than 


224  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

one  trout  pond  where  it  was  only  a  question  of  time 
about  one  half  of  the  fish  going  down  the  throats  of  the 
other  half.  The  fact  is,  trout  are  by  nature  incurable 
cannibals,  and  they  will  always  gratify  their  natural  in- 
stincts, to  some  extent  at  least,  and  will  sometimes 
carry  them  to  a  very  destructive  length.* 

My  advice  is,  where  you  have  different-sized  trout 
confined,  to  draw  off  your  pond,  or,  if  you  cannot  draw 
it  off,  sweep  out  all  the  fish  with  a  sweep  seine,  and 
sort  them  thoroughly  at  stated  intervals.  In  sorting,  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  there  is  six  times  as  much 
mischief  from  having  one  large  one  with  six  small 
ones  than  six  large  ones  with  one  small  one,  because 
the  one  large  one  will  eat  up  all  the  small  ones,  while 
the  whole  of  the  other  six  can  eat  only  the  small  one. 
The  most  dangerous  times,  when  the  trout  are  not  kept 
sorted,  are  just  after  a  rain  in  the  spring  or  summer, 
and  when  the  weather  suddenly  moderates  in  the  win- 
ter. In  the  first  case  the  disturbed  water  prevents 
their  taking  their  regular  feed,  and  they  get  very  hun- 
gry in  consequence,  and  in  the  other  case  the  warm 

*  I  once  had  some  full-grown  trout,  of  the  peculiarly  large  va- 
riety found  in  Monadnoc  Lake,  confined  in  a  small  pond,  and 
one  autumn  had  occasion  to  remove  them,  and  put  in  a  number 
of  small  brook  trout.  The  pond  was  a  covered  one,  and  the 
fish  were  not  particularly  examined  through  the  winter.  In  the 
spring,  when  the  cover  was  removed,  it  was  found  that  more  than 
one  half  of  the  brook  trout  had  disappeared.  A  thorough  search 
of  the  pond  revealed  a  large  and  very  fat  Monadnoc  trout  hidden 
in  a  dark  hole,  where  he  had  been  overlooked  in  the  removal  of 
the  others.  He  had  eaten  at  least  one  hundred  two  or  three 
ounce  trout  during  the  winter. 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       225 

winter  days  sharpen  their  appetites.  In  either  case,  if 
you  do  not  anticipate  the  cravings  of  their  instincts 
with  your  food,  the  smaller  trout  will  pay  the  penalty 
of  their  lives.  It  makes  no  difference  with  the  large 
ones  whether  they  can  wholly  swallow  those  they 
kill  or  not.  They  seize  them  by  the  middle,  whirl 
them  round  as  herons  do,  and  swallow  them  head 
down.  If  they  cannot  swallow  the  whole  fish  at  first, 
they  will  begin  digesting  the  end  that  is  down,  and 
swallow  the  rest  as  it  comes  along. 

I  will  also  suggest  the  following  precaution  here, 
though  it  is  a  little  out  of  place.  If  you  have  two 
ponds  on  the  same  brook,  one  below  the  other,  with 
large  fish  in  one  and  small  fish  in  the  other,  make  it 
doubly  sure  that  none  of  the  large  ones  can  by  any 
possibility  escape  into  the  pond  of  smaller  ones.  Do 
not  be  satisfied  with  leaving  things  so  that  you  think 
this  cannot  happen,  but  make  it  impossible  by  any 
mishap  short  of  an  earthquake,  for  the  possible  conse- 
quences cannot  be  exaggerated  ;  and  what  makes  it  all 
the  worse  is  that,  should  a  large  trout  get  among  the 
small  ones,  and  adopt  cannibal  habits,  he  would  keep 
himself  completely  hidden,  —  such  is  the  habit  of  can- 
nibal fish,  —  and  you  might  not  discover  him  till  his 
ravages  had  been  very  disastrous.  Fix  your  ponds, 
therefore,  so  that  no  freshet,  or  clogging  up  of  the 
screens,  or  other  contingency,  can  make  it  possible  for 
the  large  ones  to  jump  over,  creep  under,  or  in  any 
other  way  get  into  the  pond  of  small  ones. 

6.  Never  let  the  water  get  foul.  The  source  of  foul- 
ness in  the  water,  whenever  it  occurs,  is,  of  course,  the 
10*  o 


226  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

feed  which  falls  to  the  bottom  of  the  pond  and  the 
effete  matter  coming  from  the  fish.  If  these  accumu- 
late in  any  great  quantity,  danger  is  imminent.  The 
fish  are,  so  to  speak,  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  and 
the  first  warm  day  may  bring  great  loss. 

There  is  but  one  remedy  for  a  foul  pond,  except  re- 
moving the  fish  and  digging  it  out  anew,  and  that  is 
the  use  of  earth.  This  remedy,  though  the  only  one, 
is  a  sure  one.  Earth,  as  is  now  well  known,  is  a  won- 
derful absorbent  of  foul  gases.  Therefore,  when  the 
bed  of  your  pond  gets  foul,  and  it  is  not  convenient  to 
clean  it  out,  throw  in  a  layer  of  three  inches,  or,  if  very 
foul,  of  six  inches  of  common  earth.  This  will  make 
the  pond  as  sweet  and  clean  as  it  ever  was,  and  the 
fish,  too,  will  be  better  for  it.  Do  not  be  afraid  of 
muddying  the  water.  Muddy  water  never  killed  a 
trout  yet,  though  thousands  have  died  for  the  want 
of  it. 

Beginners  are  here  cautioned  against  drawing  down 
the  pond,  when  it  gets  foul,  in  order  to  remove  the 
fish,  for  this  is  the  very  surest'  thing  to  make  matters 
worse.  The  water  becomes  thick  with  the  offending 
matter,  when  the  pond  is  drawn  off,  and  it  will  cer- 
tainly sicken  the  fish  and  check  their  growth,  if  it  does 
not  kill  them  outright.  It  is  not  so  dangerous  with 
large  trout  as  with  young  fry,  thousands  of  which  have 
been  killed  by  this  practice ;  but  it  is  bad  enough  with 
fish  of  any  size,  and  never  ought  to  be  resorted  to. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  keep  a  few  moderate-sized 
suckers  or  mullets  (Catostomi)  —  mullets  are  the  hand- 
somer fish  —  in  your  ponds  for  scavengers.  They  do 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       22/ 

good  service  at  this  work,  they  are  perfectly  harmless, 
and  will  clean  the  bottom  of  the  pond  of  whatever  food 
escapes  the  mouths  of  the  trout.  Every  trout  pond, 
I  think,  should  contain  one  or  more  of  them. 

7.  Protect  from  natural  enemies.  The  natural  ene- 
mies of  large  trout  in  New  England  are  herons,  fish 
hawks,  and  minks.  Kingfishers  are  also  very  destruc- 
tive to  yearlings,  and  will  kill  two-year-olds,  if  they 
do  not  eat  them.  Snakes  also  prey  on  yearlings,  and 
will  sometimes  swallow  a  two-year-old ;  but  these  two 
latter  enemies  are  chiefly  formidable  to  yearlings. 
The  best  protection  against  the  birds  is  to  cover  the 
pond.  A  plain  rack,  made  of  inch-strips  of  pine,  laid 
about  two  inches  apart,  answers  very  well  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  birds  will  not  go  through  the  slats  for  the 
fish.  The  rafts  which  are  put  on  the  pond  to  shade  it 
are  some  protection  against  birds,  especially  t  king- 
fishers ;  but  herons  will  stand  on  the  rafts  themselves, 
and  with  their  long  necks  reach  the  incautious  trout 
in  their  hiding-places  underneath.  Herons  have  very 
capacious  throats,  a  passion  for  fish,  and  a  rapid  diges- 
tion. They  are  consequently  very  much  to  be  dreaded. 
They  do  their  mischief  evenings  and  mornings,  but 
mostly  in  the  early  morning ;  and  as  they  are  not 
very  wary  birds,  you  can, usually  shoot  them,  if  you  get 
up  early  enough.  They  are  waders,  also,  and,  having 
very  long  feet,  they  are  easily  caught  alive,  by  setting 
traps  in  the  mud  where  their  foot-tracks  have  been 
discovered.  I  once  caught  a  large  blue  heron  so,  with 
five  two-year-old  trout  in  his  throat.  If  you  get  one 
alive,  and  are  at  all  incredulous  about  their  trout- 


228  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

destroying  capacity,  keep  him  till  he  is  hungry,  and 
then  give  him  a  panful  of  live  minnows  to  eat.  He 
will  soon  show  what  herons  can  do  in  stowing  away 
fish,  and  will  remove,  I  think,  all  scepticism  from  your 
mind  henceforth  about  the  destructiveness  of  herons 
among  trout.  The  kingfishers  are  easily  shot.  They 
generally  come  early  in  the  morning,  or  about  three 
hours  before  sundown  ;  but,  if  not  molested,  they  will 
stay  around  all  day,  and  increase  in  numbers  very  fast. 
Approach  them  with  a  gun,  if  you  can.  If  you  are  not 
able  to  get  within  gunshot,  lie  in  wait  for  them  near 
one  of  their  favorite  perches  about  the  ponds,  and 
they  will  usually  soon  come  within  gunshot  of  their 
own  accord.  You  can  also  trap  them,  by  erecting  a 
tall  pole  over  the  pond,  and,  setting  a  steel  trap  or 
bird-trap  on  the  top  of  it ;  it  will  not  be  long  before 
the  kingfisher  will  alight  on  the  pole  to  watch  for  his 
prey,  and  will  be  caught.  The  same  trick  answers  for 
hawks.  Minks  are  not  so  easy  to  manage.  The  best 
chance  is  to  trap  them  on  their  way  to  the  ponds 
in  the  fall,  as  that  is  the  time  when  they  make  their 
way  up  the  brooks.  Green's  method  of  trapping 
minks,  which  is  the  best  I  know  of,  is  as  follows  : 
"Make  a  box  eighteen  inches  long  by  six  inches 
broad  and  deep,  leaving  one*  end  open.  Set  a  com- 
mon game-trap  (such  as  is  used  for  catching  muskrats) 
in  the  open  end  of  the  box,  in  such  a  position  that 
when  the  jaws  are  closed  they  will  be  in  a  line  with 
the  length  of  the  trap.  If  it  is  set  crossways  it  will  be 
apt  to  throw  the  mink  out,  instead  of  catching  it.  Put 
the  bait  in  the  further  end  of  the  box  (a  piece  of  meat 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       22Q 

or  a  dead  fish  will  answer  for  bait),  set  the  trap,  and 
cover  it  over  with  a  large  leaf.  Now  there  is  only  one 
way  for  the  mink,  to  get  at  the  bait,  which  is  by  walk- 
ing over  the  trap."  You  will  be  very  likely  to  catch 
the  mink  in  this  way,  though  you  will  probably  get  a 
few  house  cats  first.  When  minks  begin  to  infest 
your  waters,  you  will  see  the  advantage  of  plank  ponds 
over  earth  ponds ;  for  in  plank  ponds  the  minks  can- 
not hide  permanently,  but  must  come  and  go  every 
time  they  make  a  meal  off  the  fish.  On  the  contrary, 
in  the  earth  ponds  they  will  find  some  old  muskrat- 
hole  or  other  place  where  they  will  probably  take 
up  winter  quarters  \  and  when  the  ground  is  frozen 
solid  for  a  foot  or  two  below  the  surface  it  will  be 
found  very  hard  to  dislodge  them.  It  is  almost  im- 
possible to  trap  them  then,  for  two  reasons.  In  the 
first  place,  as  they  have  a  subterranean  passage  to 
their  daily  food  they  seldom  appear  above  ground, 
where  they  can  be  caught  or  shot ;  and,  secondly,  hav- 
ing plenty  of  the  food  which  they  like  best,  namely, 
live  trout,  you  have  nothing  better  to  tempt  them  into 
a  trap  with.  Your  only  chance  is  this.  Place  a  dry 
plank  on  the  north  side  of  the  pond,  so  that  one  end 
rests  in  the  water  and  the  other  slants  some  ways  up 
the  bank.  Put  a  steel  trap  on  the  plank,  near  the 
lower  end,  and  fasten  it. so  that  the  mink,  if  caught, 
will  throw  it  into  the  water.  Minks  like  to  sun  them- 
selves in  the  winter,  and  though  your  intrenched  ene- 
my will  not  be  baited  into  a  trap,  he  will  sometimes 
step  into  one  in  trying  to  get  to  a  dry  spot  in  the  sun. 
If  minks  are  so  troublesome  as  to  warrant  the  outlay. 


230  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

enclose  the  pond  on  all  sides  and  on  the  top  so  tightly 
that  a  mink  cannot  get  in  ;  then  you  are  safe. 

There  is  no  way  to  manage  the  snakes  but  to  kill 
them  ;  but  they  are  not  so  very  destructive  to  large 
trout ;  and,  if  you  keep  off  all  other  enemies,  I  do  not 
think  you  will  suffer  much  from  snakes. 

POACHERS. 

I  know  the  prevailing  opinion  is  now  that  there  is 
not  much  danger  from  poachers.  I  wish  to  lift  up  my 
voice  against  this  delusion.  Your  trout  in  an  exposed 
pond  are  just  about  as  safe  as  your  money  would  be 
in  it ;  indeed,  in  some  respects,  not  so  safe,  for  there 
are  people  who  will  steal  trout  who  would  not  steal 
money.  Yet  persons  will  lock  up  their  money  in  vaults 
in  banks,  and  then  not  feel  safe,  and  will  leave  a  hun- 
dred or  a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  trout  in  an  un- 
protected pond  and  think  there  is  not  much  risk.  It 
is  a  great  mistake.  I  would  throw  every  barrier  I 
possibly  could  between  my  trout  and  trout-thieves,  and 
would  make  my  ponds  just  as  secure  from  poacher 
raids  as  the  value  of  their  contents  will  warrant  ' 

Poachers  are  of  three  classes.  First,  the  regular 
thief.  He  steals  the  trout  the  same  as  he  steals  his 
firewood  and  poultry,  because  he  prefers  to  get  his 
living  that  way.  He  comes  regularly,  but,  with  a 
thief's  caution,  by  the  least  suspected  path,  and  usually 
takes  just  enough  each  time  not  to  have  them  missed. 
A  year's  steady  work  at  it,  however,  will  leave  its 
marks  on  your  trout  stock,  you  may  depend.  Possibly 
the  role  will  be  changed  some  time,  and  all  your  trout 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       23! 

be  taken  off  in  one  night  and  shipped  to  market  and 
sold.  It  is  of  no  use  to  say  that  the  law  will  keep 
this  kind  off.  The  law  has  no  effect  on  them.  They 
make  a  business  of  breaking  the  law,  and  if  it  does  not 
keep  them  from  other  property  it  will  not  keep  them 
from  trout. 

The  second  class  of  poachers  are  those  who  steal 
the  fish  partly  for  the  lark  of  it,  and  partly  because 
they  want  the  fish,  and  have  not  enough  principle  to 
care  whether  it  is  right  or  wrong.  The  law  restrains 
these  somewhat,  and  makes  their  visits  scarcer,  but 
does  not  keep  them  off  entirely. 

The  third  class  are  those  who  have  principle  enough 
not  to  steal  other  things,  but  seem  to  have  such  a 
passion  for  trout  fishing  that  a  stocked  trout  pond  is  a 
temptation  they  cannot  resist.  I  will  only  say  of  these, 
that  the  sight  of  their  names  in  print  would  be  a  start- 
ling revelation  of  what  otherwise  respectable  persons 
can  be  sometimes  tempted  into  doing. 

With  these  three  classes  of  poachers  about,  your  trout 
are  never  secure.  So  I  would  say,  make  the  safety 
of  your  ponds  just  as  near  a  certainty  as  you  can. 
Do  not  trust  to  people's  being  too  honest,  or  too  indo- 
lent, or  too  unenterprising  to  take  your  trout,  for  there 
are  dishonesty,  cunning,  and  enterprise  enough  in  the 
world  to  steal  them  twenty  times  over,  and  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  these  qualities  exist  in  the  very 
neighborhood  of  your  ponds.  The  true  plan  is  to 
put  temptation  out  of  the  way  of  all  by  interposing 
impassable  barriers  between  the  trout  and  the  thieves ; 
and  as  a  guide  to  what  may  be  done,  we  will  give  a 


232  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

brief  description  of  the  safeguards  employed  at  the 
Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds.  There  is,  first,  an  admis- 
sion-fee to  the  grounds,  and  visitors  are  required  to 
register  their  names.  This  has  a  good  effect  in  vari- 
ous ways.  It  keeps  the  crowd  unfamiliar  with  the 
temptation,  which  is  a  good  deal ;  for  persons  who 
have  never  seen  the  trout  in  the  daytime  are  much 
less  likely  to  come  for  them  at  night  than  those  who 
have  seen  them  often.  Poachers  might  say  of  trout 
what  Pope  said  of  vice,  — 

When  "  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  its  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 

An  admittance  fee  also  makes  the  number  of  visi- 
tors so  small  that  any  suspicious  persons  taking  obser- 
vations for  a  midnight  raid  are  likely  to  be  noticed. 
At  all  events,  it  makes  you  feel  safer  than  if  there 
were  people  around  your  ponds  all  day  that  you  did 
not  know  anything  about.  Finally,  if  a  fee  is  objec- 
tionable to  your  taste,  you  need  not  take  it  any  oftener 
than  you  like.  Giving  notice  that  one  is  charged  will 
answer  the  purpose. 

Secondly,  a  copy  of  the  statute  in  regard  to  poach 
ing  is  placed  where  all  can  read  it.  This  has  a  good 
effect,  for  a  quiet  contemplation  of  six  months'  im- 
prisonment, as  the  penalty  is  in  New  Hampshire,  or 
$  100  fine,  as  it  is  in  some  other  places,  is  a  serious 
damper  on  the  ardor  of  at  least  some  minds  possessed 
of  poaching  proclivities. 

Thirdly,  a  tight  board  fence  eight  feet  high  (and  it 
should  be  higher),  closely  spiked  at  the  top,  surrounds 
the  ponds  of  large  trout.  This,  it  is  true,  will  not 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       233 

prevent  a  resolute  thief  from  climbing  over  and  getting 
the  fish,  if  he  has  made  up  his  mind  that  he  will  have 
them,  but  it  nevertheless  reduces  the  number  very 
much  of  the  dangerous  ones,  and  limits  them  to  the 
very  enterprising  only.  There  are  a  hundred  poachers 
who  will  steal  up  and  throw  their  lines  into  an  open 
pond,  where  there  is  one  who  will  bring  a  ladder  and 
scale  a  spiked  fence  and  descend  on  the  other  side, 
where  he  does  not  know  how  many  spring  guns,  or  bull- 
dogs, or  what  not,  there  may  be  inside  to  receive  him. 
A  spiked  enclosure  lessens  the  chances  of  loss  by 
poaching  very  much. 

Fourthly,  there  is  at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds 
a  dog  whose  ferocity  I  have  never  seen  surpassed 
except  in  a  chained  tiger  (one  of  Van  Amburgh's) 
at  a  menagerie  we  once  visited,  and  who  is  as  stanch 
and  as  incorruptible  as  he  is  ferocious.  This  dog 
"Jack"  is  the  last  thing  in  the  world  a  poacher  would 
like  to  encounter  in  a  spiked  enclosure,  and  adds  very 
much,  I  think,  to  the  safety  of  the  fish.  He  is  cer- 
tainly a  terror  to  all  who  know  him.  It  is  true  a  watch- 
dog can  be  shot  or  poisoned,  and  so  be  got  out  of  the 
way ;  but  he  is  at  least  another  barrier  to  danger,  and 
as  long  as  he  lives,  at  all  events,  he  is  a  protection. 

There  are  other  safeguards  inside  of  the  fence  which 
are  disclosed  only  to  the  poachers  themselves,  but 
which  make  the  way  of  the  transgressor  exceedingly 
perilous.  We  would  add  here  that  the  racks  which 
are  put  over  the  ponds  to  keep  off  the  birds  are  also 
a  protection  against  a  line  being  thrown  over  the  fence 
among  the  trout.  But  for  all  the  protection  of  these 


234  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

safeguards  there  is  one  better  than  all,  and  that  is  to 
have  your  dwelling-house  or  your  keeper's  house  either 
over  or  close  to  the  ponds.  Then  with  a  dog  that  will 
give  the  alarm  at  the  approach  of  danger  you  may 
consider  your  trout  as  near  safe  as  the  nature  of  the 
case  permits. 

SECTION    IV.  —  ADULT    TROUT.  —  How    TO   GROW 

TROUT   TO   A   VERY    LARGE    SlZE,    AND    RAPIDLY. 

Trout  show  their  keeping  as  well  as  any  other  crea- 
ture, and  more  than  most.  I  have  seen  a  trout  that 
was  reasonably  believed  to  be  but  two  years  old  that 
weighed  a  pound,  and  I  have  seen  one  of  the  same 
age  that  barely  turned  the  scales  at  half  an  ounce. 
The  larger  one  had  been  in  a  warm  stream  which 
swarmed  with  blood-suckers,  than  which  there  is  no 
more  growing  food  in  the  world  for  trout.  The  other 
happened  to  be  confined  in  a  small  enclosure  of  very 
cold  water,  almost  destitute  of  food.  These  instances 
show  what  a  difference  unlike  conditions  will  make 
in  the  growth  of  a  trout.  You  can  grow  them  at  an 
almost  incredible  rate,  or  you  can  dwarf  them  to  an 
almost  incredible  degree. 

If  you  want  to  dwarf  trout,  keep  them  in  cold  sun- 
less water,  in  close  confinement,  and  with  little  food, 
and  you  will  do  it. 

If  you  want  to  grow  them  fast  and  large,  observe  the 
following  directions  :  — 

i.  Give  them  plenty  of  water.  Of  two  similar  lots 
of  trout  confined  in  the  same  amount  of  space  and 
kept  on  the  same  amount  of  food,  those  which  have 
the  largest  supply  of  water  will  grow  the  best. 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.      235 

2.  Give  them  plenty  of  food.     Trout  will  not  grow 
in  exact  proportion  to  the  food  which  is  given  them, 
because  their  growth  is  modified   by  so  many  other 
conditions  ;   but  you  may  be  sure  of  this,  that  the 
more  you  feed  them,  and  the  more  often,  under  any 
conditions,  the  better  they  will  grow. 

3.  Keep   them   where  the  water  warms   up   in   the 
summer,  say  to  65°  or  nearly  70°.     You  cannot  grow 
trout  fast  or  large  in  very  cold  water.     Feed  them  and 
care  for  them  the  best  you  can,  they  must,  neverthe- 
less, have  comparatively  warm  water ;  and  in  such 
water,  with  plenty  of  food,  range,  and  space,  their  rate 
of  growth  is  simply  wonderful. 

4.  Give  them  range.     If  you  want  to  grow  your  trout 
very  large,  you  must  give  them  range.     I  say  if  you 
want  to  grow  them  very  large.     Range  is  not  neces- 
sary, by  any  means,  to  the  average  growth  of  trout,  for 
they  will  grow  to  a  very  good  size  in  small  places,  and 
it  is  also  generally  incompatible  with  trout  growing  as 
a  business  to  give  them  great  range ;  but,  if  you  want 
to  raise  the  very  largest  trout,  you  must  give  them  the 
very  largest  range.     Trout  will  not  grow  beyond  a  cer- 
tain size  in  confinement.     They  will  stop  or  nearly 
stop  growing  when  they  have  reached  a  certain  limit. 
Range   also   influences  the   rate  of  growth.      Large 
ponds  grow  trout  faster,  as  a  rule,  than  small  ponds. 
Put  ten  trout  into  a  pool  three  feet  square,  and  ten 
others  in  a  pond  three  rods  square,  and  those  in  the 
pond  will  grow  very  much  faster  than  those  in  the 
pool,  on  the  same  food.     In  a  pond  of  three  acres 
they  would  grow  faster  yet. 


236  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

5.  Give  them  plenty  of  space.  I  mean  by  space  the 
amount  of  cubic  feet  of  room  to  each  fish  in  a  pond. 
This,  of  course,  is  not  synonymous  with  range.  As, 
for  instance,  a  thousand  head  of  cattle  in  a  pasture 
would  have  as  much  range  as  ten  head,  but  ten  head 
confined  in  it  alone  would  have  a  hundred  times  the 
space.  Space  is  something  which  cannot  be  afforded 
by  trout  growers  generally,  but  it  is  necessary  to  the 
very  large  and  rapid  growth  of  trout.  Put  one  thou- 
sand trout  in  a  pond  twenty  feet  square,  and  ten  trout 
in  another  pond  of  the  same  size,  and  keep  both  lots 
on  the  same  food,  and  you  will  be  astonished  to  see 
how  much  the  growth  of  the  smaller  lot  exceeds  that 
of  the  larger  lot.  Much  space  is  not  necessary  to 
keep  trout  alive  in  and  doing  well,  but  it  is  neverthe- 
less indispensable  to  very  large  growth. 

The  suggestions  of  this  chapter  are  intended  more 
for  amateurs  and  those  who  wish  to  experiment  on 
raising  very  large  trout  than  for  those  who  make  a  busi- 
ness of  trout  raising ;  for  though  the  raising  of  very 
large  trout  is  a  desirable  thing  always,  it  is  not  often 
consistent  with  the  best  economy,  —  smaller  trout  and 
more  of  them,  with  perfect  security,  being  a  more  profit- 
able end  to  seek. 

SECTION  V.  —  DAILY   CARE  OF  THE  LARGE  TROUT. 

The  mere  daily  care  of  the  large  trout  is  almost 
nothing,  if  the  arrangements  for  keeping  them  are 
right  to  begin  with.  I  know  of  no  domesticated  crea- 
ture which  requires  so  little  daily  care.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  feeding  them  once  a  day,  and  keeping  the 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.       237 

inlets  and  outlets  clear,  you  need  not  bestow  a  thought 
on  them  for  weeks.  They  do  not  require  daily  groom- 
ing like  a  horse,  or  daily  milking  like  a  cow,  or  careful 
housing  in  winter  like  sheep,  or  watching  like  poultry. 
If  you  have  made  the  ponds  safe  from  the  changes  of 
weather  and  the  attacks  of  enemies,  the  trout  will  be, 
summer  and  winter,  their  own  keepers,  with  your  as- 
sistance once  a  day  in  giving  them  their  food,  and 
twice  a  year  in  sorting  them.  They  can  even  be  kept 
without  eating  for  several  days  without  the  injurious 
results  which  would  follow  similar  neglect  with  other 
domesticated  creatures.  There  is  also  seldom  or  never 
any  sickness  among  large  trout  kept  in  suitable  waters. 
This  is  a  very  striking  feature  of  trout  growing,  and  a 
very  favorable  one.  It  is  astonishing  how  many  you 
can  keep  in  a  pond  of  good  water  the  year  round 
without  danger  of  sickness  or  loss  by  death.  Fowls 
confined  in  numbers  get  sick  and  die.  Disease  breaks 
out  and  spreads  among  large  flocks  of  sheep  and  herds 
of  cattle  when  confined,  but  you  can  keep  thousands 
of  trout  in  a  very  small  enclosure  of  good  water  in  per- 
fect health  all  jthe  year  round.  Indeed,  there  is  no 
other  creature  above  the  grade  of  insects,  except  other 
fish,  that  you  can  keep  in  such  large  numbers  and  in 
so  small  a  space  with  so  little  risk  of  disease  and 
death.  This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  points 
about  growing  the  large  trout,  and  reduces  the  labor 
of  taking  care  of  them  to  a  minimum.  To  be  sure, 
the  general  work  connected  with  keeping  the  large  trout 
is  very  considerable,  such  as  taking  the  eggs,  prepar- 
ing the  spawning-beds,  and  the  like ;  but  the  mere 
daily  care  of  the  fish  themselves  is  very  trifling. 


238  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

SECTION  VI.  —  MARKETING  THE  LARGE  TROUT. 

Marketing  the  trout  is  a  simple  process.  You  take 
a  pail,  some  small  pieces  of  ice,  a  little  food,  and  a 
hard-wood  stick  about  a  foot  long,  or  a  piece  of  iron, 
to  kill  the  trout  with,  and  go  to  the  pond.  Place  a 
large  tub  near  where  you  are  going  to  take  out  the 
fish,  fill  it  half  full  of  water,  throw  a  little  food  into  the 
pond,  and,  when  the  fish  come  for  it,  take  out  a  netful, 
and  empty  them  into  the  tub.  Sort  out  what  fish  you 
want  to  kill,  and  throw  back  the  rest,  then,  lifting  the 
fish  up  one  by  one  with  the  left  hand,  strike  a  sharp 
blow  on  the  top  of  the  skull  with  the  instrument  in  the 
right.  This  will  kill  them  at  once,  which  is  an  impor- 
tant point  gained.  Put  the  dead  ones  immediately 
with  the  ice  in  the  pail,  and  take  them  to  the  scales  to 
weigh  them.  Having  noted  down  their  weight,  pack 
them  in  a  box  of  pounded  ice  and  sawdust,  nail  up 
the  box,  label  it,  and  send  it  to  the  express-office.  In 
filling  a  twenty-pound  order,  this  can  be  done  so 
quickly  that  the  trout  can  be  on  their  way  within  half 
an  hour  after  you  go  to  the  ponds  fos  them,  and  they 
need  not  have  been  exposed  to  the  air  (without  ice) 
three  minutes  in  all.  Killed  and  packed  in  this  way, 
they  will  open  twenty-four  hours  afterwards  as  fresh 
and  hard  as  when  they  were  taken  out  of  the  ponds, 
and  will  be  a  great  deal  harder  than  trout  caught  by 
fishermen  in  the  wild  brooks  the  same  morning.  The 
proprietor  of  the  Parker  House  at  Boston,  to  whom  I 
have  furnished  trout  for  several  years,  said  that  the 
Cold  Spring  Trout,  which  were  killed  and  packed  in 


GROWING  THE  LARGE  TROUT.      239 

this  way,  came  the  best  of  any  they  had  ever  had  in 
the  house.  Yet  his  house  is  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  from  the  ponds. 

The  best  time  to  kill  fish  for  the  table  is,  as  a  rule, 
that  season  of  the  year  which  is  the  antipodes  of  the 
spawning  season.  The  best  time,  therefore,  to  begin 
to  market  trout  is  in  the  spring,  just  after  their  spring 
appetite  comes  on.  They  are  then  hard  and  plump, 
and  in  first-rate  condition.  From  then  till  July  they 
do  very  well  to  market.  After  that  they  steadily  de- 
teriorate. As  the  spawning  season  approaches,  their 
flesh  weighs  less  compared  with  their  size.  They 
gain  very  much  in  weight  between  April  ist  and  July 
ist,  sometimes  fifty  per  cent  and  over,  which  makes 
it  desirable  on  that  account  to  hold  them  till  July.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  prices  are  best  at  the  beginning  of 
the  season,  and  fall  very  considerably  by  July.  My 
trout,  sent  to  Fulton  Market,  New  York,  and  sold  on 
commission,  April  i,  1871,  brought  $  1.25  per  pound. 
Before  the  month  was  out  the  price  had  fallen  to 
90  cents. 

The  question  as  to  the  age  at  which  it  is  most  profit- 
able to  market  trout  is  an  important  one.  I  think  that 
it  is  the  spring  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  year.  It  cannot 
be  earlier  than  this,  for  the  trout  get  some  of  their 
best,  if  not  their  very  best,  growth  the  third  year,  and 
to  kill  them  before  they  are  three  years  old  would  cut 
off  nearly  all  the  increase  from  them. 

There  are  also  reasons  why  they  are  most  profitably 
killed  before  they  are  older  than  four  years.  The 
ratio  of  their  growth  to  the  cost  of  keeping  has  then 


240  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

reached  its  maximum,  at  least  in  small  artificial  ponds, 
and  is  on  the  wane.  Every  year  after  that  they  are 
kept  also  increases  the  general  risk.  They  are  at  this 
age  of  the  best  marketable  size,  —  very  large  trout  not 
being  as  salable  as  pound-trout  or  less. 

This  question,  however,  of  the  most  profitable  age 
to  market  the  fish  varies  with  circumstances,  and  it 
is  one  which  every  trout  breeder  will  doubtless  best 
settle  for  himself,  though  the  above  suggestions  may 
perhaps,  in  some  measure,  serve  as  a  guide. 

The  New  York  market  is  the  best  market  in  the 
country  for  first-class  trout,  as  it  is  for  game  of  every 
description.  The  Boston  market  falls  very  much  be- 
low it,  and  most  of  the  smaller  cities  are  very  poor 
places  indeed  to  which  to  send  trout  for  sale  in  the 
public  markets. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
CONCLUDING  CHAPTER. 

SECTION  I.  —  THE  WORK  IN  GENERAL  AT  A  TROUT- 
BREEDING  ESTABLISHMENT. 

THE  work  at  a  trout-breeding  establishment  varies 
with  the  season  of  the  year.  In  the  summer,  when 
the  work  is  the  lightest,  it  is  a  routine  nearly  as  fol- 
lows. You  go  to  the  ponds  in  the  morning,  examine  the 
streams,*  and  clean  the  screens.  You  then  take  the 
meat  as  the  butcher  has  left  it,  sort  it  for  the  different 
sizes  of  fish,  grate  the  liver  for  the  young  fry,  chop 
the  heart  in  the  cutter  for  the  yearlings,  run  the  rest 
through  the  sausage-grinder  for  the  large  trout,  and 
give  the  refuse  to  the  dog.  You  next  take  the  feeder 
and  feed  the  fry,  and  examine  them  thoroughly ;  then 
the  yearlings,  then  the  large  fish.  You  then  feed  the 

*  I  would  like  here  to  caution  beginners,  when  going  the 
rounds  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  if  everything  is  right,  never  to 
take  anything  for  granted,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  look  over  the 
works  with  the  expectation  of  finding  something  wrong.  Though 
you  may  have  left  everything  perfectly  safe,  as  you  supposed,  the 
day  before,  a  dozen  things  may  have  occurred  during  the  night 
to  make  trouble.  I  could  mention  numberless  instances  where 
losses  have  occurred  from  the  keeper  taking  for  granted  that 
everything  was  right,  and  consequently  overlooking  something 
that  was  wrong. 

II  P 


242  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

young  fry  again,  and  if  in  spring  water,  give  them 
earth  twice  a  week.  Set  things  in  order,  observe  the 
progress  of  your  experiments  if  you  have  any,  see  that 
everything  is  left  right,  and  then,  if  no  accident  has 
happened,  your  work  is  done  for  the  morning. 

In  the  afternoon  you  feed  the  young  fry  again  twice 
and  the  yearlings  once,  leave  things  right  for  the  night, 
and  the  work  is  done  for  the  day,  if  it  is  a  fair  day. 
If  it  is  a  rainy  day,  the  streams  and  screens  will  need 
more  watching  and  care,  and  there  will  perhaps  be 
gates  and  flash-boards  to  alter. 

You  will  also  during  the  summer  probably  have 
some  improvements  to  make,  and  some  changing  and 
sorting  of  the  young  fry,  if  you  have  many. 

As  the  spawning  season  approaches,  there  will  be, 
among  other  things,  in  addition  to  the  routine  work, 
the  spawning  races  to  clear  out  and  bed  with  clean 
gravel,  the  hatching  troughs  to  clean  out  and  prepare 
for  use,  new  flannel  filters  to  make,  moss  to  get  in  for 
packing  the  eggs,  traps  to  set,  and  special  precautions 
to  take  against  the  fall  freshets. 

After  the  spawning  season  begins,  there  will  be  the 
feeding,  the  spawning  the  fish,  the  laying  down  of  the 
eggs,  orders  to  fill,  and  the  daily  examination  of  the 
eggs.  If  you  secure  a  good  impregnation  this  latter 
job  will  not  be  much,  but  if  you  have  poor  luck  im- 
pregnating, it  will  be  a  great  burden  all  through  the 
winter,  increasing  every  day  till  long  after  the  fish  be- 
gin to  hatch.  After  the  hatching  commences,  and  the 
empty  eggs  are  all  picked  out,  there  is  a  lull  in  the 
work  till  the  new  fry  begin  to  feed.  It  is  then  very 


CONCLUDING   CHAPTER.  243 

cold.  The  old  trout  will  need  to  be  fed  but  three  or 
four  times  a  week,  the  yearlings  not  much  oftener,  the 
young  fry  only  once  or  twice  a  day,  and  there  will  now 
be  no  more  bad  eggs  to  pick  out.  Thus  the  work  is 
very  much  lessened  ;  but  it  is  the  lull  before  the  storm, 
if  this  expression  may  be  used,  for  soon  the  young  fry 
begin  to  feed,'  and  their  thousands  or  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  mouths  must  be  fed  five  or  six  times 
a  day.  The  shells  of  the  hatched  eggs,  now  be- 
ing constantly  shed  by  the  young  fish,  clog  up  the 
screens,  and  make  incessant  watching  of  them  neces- 
sary. 

Very  likely  the  frost  and  muskrats  are  making  trou- 
ble with  the  ponds  or  aqueducts  outside,  and  altogether 
this  is  usually  made  a  very  busy  time,  the  burden  of 
which  is  not  at  all  lessened  by  the  shortness  of  the  days 
and  the  excessive  cold.  As  the  spring  advances  the 
young  fry  are  thinned  out  by  sales,  they  require  to  be 
fed  less  often,  the  fry  of  last  year  have  become  year- 
lings, the  days  lengthen,  the  weather  grows  warmer, 
and  the  work  becomes  easier  and  pleasanter,  until  the 
sales  of  the  young  fry  are  over.  The  balance  of  them 
are  soon  turned  into  their  nurseries,  rearing-boxes,  or 
ponds,  and  the  labor  is  reduced  again  to  the  mere  rou- 
tine of  the  summer. 

The  cares  of  a  trout-breeding  establishment  in  full 
operation  are  very  considerable  most  of  the  time,  and 
few  beginners  will  be  wholly  able  to  free  themselves 
from  consequent  anxiety ;  but  this  is  more  than  bal- 
anced a  hundred  times  over  by  the  constant  interest 
and  ever-increasing  enthusiasm  which  the  beautiful 


244  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

creatures  inspire  at  every  stage  of  their  growth.  There 
is  no  time  "When  they  are  not  beautiful  and  intensely 
interesting,  and  it  is  not  exaggerating  to  say  that  at 
some  particular  periods,  as,  for  instance,  the  spawn- 
ing season,  the  first  appearance  of  the  embryo  in 
the  egg,  and  the  hatching  of  the  egg,  afford  to  a 
lover  of  nature  a  most  pleasurable  excitement,  which 
would  seem  to  be  satisfying  even  to  those  who  think 
that  it  takes  a  good  deal  of  excitement  to  satisfy 
them. 

On  the  whole,  I  should  say  that  the  work  of  a  trout 
farm  is  attended  with  considerable  care,  and  at  first 
with  some  anxiety,  but  also  with  a  corresponding  in- 
terest and  enjoyment,  and  not  without  a  very  consider- 
able degree  of  pleasurable  excitement  at  times. 

THE  PECUNIARY  ASPECT  OF  TROUT  CULTURE. 

One  of  the  chief  inquiries  at  the  present  time  in  re- 
gard to  trout  culture  is  whether  it  can  be  made  a  prof- 
itable business.  In  reply  to  this  inquiry  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  I  think  trout  breeding  can  be 
made  profitable  anywhere  in  the  settled  portions  of 
this  country  where  there  is  plenty  of  suitable  water ; 
but  to  be  very  profitable  it  must  be  on  a  large  scale. 
It  will  not  pay  great  profits  to  raise  a  thousand  trout 
a  year,  but  a  handsome  income  will  be  made  from 
raising  ten  thousand  a  year. 

I  find  that  the  cost  of  growing  trout  is  very  small 
indeed,  and  that  the  returns  are  very  large  indeed. 

It  costs  no  more  to  keep  a  thousand  trout  each,  of 
the  three  different  sizes,  springlings,  yearlings,  and 


•  CONCLUDING   CHAPTER.  245 

two-year-olds,  than  it  does  in  the  country  to  keep  a 
horse,  and  what  would  keep  a  pair  of  horses  at  a  sta- 
ble in  the  city  would  enable  a  man  to  turn  out  five 
thousand  pound  of  trout  a  year. 

The  current  expenses  of  a  trout-breeding  establish- 
ment consist  of  three  classes,  viz.  :  i.  The  rent  of  the 
place  or  the  interest  on  the  original  outlay,  plus*  the 
wear  and  tear,  which  together  should  be  reckoned  at 
12%.  2.  The  care  of  the  fish,  which  is  not  much  for 
a  small  stock  of  trout,  and  grows  (comparatively)  less 
the  more  fish  you  have.  3.  The  cost  of  feed,  which 
is  very  small,  amounting,  perhaps,  to  3  cents  a  pound. 
All  which  items  of  expense  do  not  make  the  full- 
grown  trout  cost  over  15  or  20  cents  a  pound,  if  suc- 
cessfully raised. 

On  the  other  hand,  trout  bring  from  50  cents  a 
pound  to  $  1.25,  75  cents  being,  I  should  say,  a  fair 
average,  at  the  present  time,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Boston  and  New  York. 

Here  we  see  a  large  margin  for  profit,  and  I  think  it 
is  a  fair  one,  when  a  man  raises  his  trout  successfully. 
It  all  depends  on  this,  of  course.  If  he  cannot  keep 
his  trout  alive  and  secure,  he  cannot  expect  to  make 
anything  at  the  business. 

I  should  say  the  following  estimate  approximated 
the  truth  :  — 

If  you  have  first-rate  water  facilities,  and  should 
hatch  20,000  young  fry  and  raise  them  all  to  be  four 
years  old  on  food  at  3  cents  a  pound,  they  would  cost 
you,  after  you  began  to  market  the  fish,  not  over  18 
cents  a  pound.  If  you  raise  half,  all  your  expenses 


246  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

being  the  same,  with  the  exception  of  food,  they  will 
cost  about  24  cents  a  pound.  If  you  raise  one  fourth, 
they  will  cost  somewhere  near  36  cents  a  pound.  If 
you  raise  one  eighth,  about  54  cents  a  pound.  If  you 
raise  less  than  this,  they  will  cease  to  pay  a  profit. 

To  assist  the  beginner  in  estimating  his  expected  ex- 
penses and  returns,  I  will  give  the  following  maxims :  — 

a.  Under  favorable  circumstances,  five  pounds  of 
meat  food  may  be  considered  an  equivalent  for  one 
pound  of  trout  growth  with  two-year-olds  and  three- 
year-olds. 

t>.  For  any  given  quantity  of  two  or  three  year  olds 
one  per  cent  of  their  weight  may  be  regarded  as  an 
adequate  average  daily  ration  the  year  round. 

c.  Two  and  three  year  olds  will  double  their  weight 
annually,  and  can  be  made  to  do  so  in  the  six  months 
from  May  to  September,  by  extra  care  and  feeding. 

d.  Good  food  for  grown-up  trout,  namely,  lungs  and 
plucks  of  slaughtered  animals,  can  be  purchased  any- 
where for  two  or  three  cents  a  pound.     The  cost  of 
the  actual  food  of  the  young  fry  the  first  six  months  is 
inappreciable.      For  further  information  see  chapter 
on  food. 

e.  First-class  trout  bring  $  i.oo  a  pound  in  Fulton 
Market  in  April,  and  can  be  forced,  almost  any  time, 
when  in  season,  at  50  cents. 

/  Freshly  killed  trout,  well  packed  in  ice  and  saw- 
dust, will  stand  a  direct  journey  in  the  summer,  by 
rail,  of  five  hundred  miles,  without  injury. 

Mr.  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth's  estimate  of  profits, 
published  five  years  ago  (1866),  is  as  follows:  — 


CONCLUDING   CHAPTER.  247 

Cost  of  buildings  and  fixtures  .        .         .        .        .  $  6,000 

5,000  parents  for  spawn,  at  50  cents      ....  2,500 

Three  men's  labor  for  four  years,  at  $300  per  year  3,600 

Cost  of  food  for  1,000,000  trout  for  4  years      .        .  20,000 

"            "                 "            "           3  years  .        .  10,000 

"            "                 "            "           2  years      .        .  4,000 

«            "                "            "           i  year    .        .  1,000 


Total    147,100 

Now  for  their  value.  The  million  of  four-year-olds  will  aver- 
age a  pound  each,  and  are  worth  at  least  twenty-five  cents  per 
pound  in  the  pond,  which  makes  the 

1,000,000  4-year-olds  worth         ....      $250,000 
"        3-year-olds,  |  pound  each        .        .  175,000 

"        2-year-olds,  £  pound  each    .        .        .          87,000 
"         i -year-olds,  7  oz.  each      .        .        .  30,000 

The  worth  of  all  trouble  at  the  end  of  four  years     $  542,000 
Deduct  the  price  of  growing        ....          47,000 


Profit $  495-000 

As  these  figures  stand,  they  cannot  serve  as  a  guide 
to  fish-breeders  at  present,  for  no  one  begins  to  carry 
on  the  business  on  this  immense  scale.  But  suppose 
we  divide  the  figures  by  50,  which  brings  the  scale 
within  reach,  we  then  have  a  profit  of  $  10,000  on  an 
establishment  turning  out  20,000  four-year-old  trout 
annually.  This,  I  believe,  would  be  not  far  from  the 
truth  but  for  one  item,  which  Mr.  Ainsworth  did  not 
take  in,  but  which  closely  follows  every  business  like 
an  evil  genius,  namely,  risk.  What  this  fluctuating 
item  ought  to  be  in  the  above  calculation,  I  will  not 
attempt  to  say,  but  I  am  afraid  that  at  the  time  the 
estimate  was  made  it  was  more  than  enough  to  swal- 
low up  the  profits.  It  has  been  growing  less  and  less 


248  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

every  year,  as  trout  growing  has  become  better  under- 
stood, and  I  believe  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when 
Mr.  Ainsworth's  figures  may  be  realized  on  a  reduced 
scale,  with  not  more  than  50%  deducted  from  the 
profits  to  cover  the  items  of  risk. 

It  may  occur  to  some  to  inquire  what  makes  the 
item  of  risk  so  large.  I  will  reply  that  it  is  because 
the  business  is  new,  and  but  little  understood,  the 
subject-matter  is  of  a  peculiarly  hazardous  sort,  and, 
perhaps  more  than  all,  fish-breeders  will  not  take  pains 
to  insure  the  security  which  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
success,  and  which  has  been  dwelt  upon  so  emphati- 
cally in  earlier  portions  of  this  treatise.  These  things 
have  made  the  risk  very  great,  and  account  for  the 
very  significant  fact,  that,  in  the  five  years  since  Mr. 
Ainsworth's  table  was  published,  no  one  has  made 
a  fortune  by  raising  trout  for  the  table,  or  even  to  my 
knowledge  derived  any  very  extraordinary  income  from 
this  source  alone. 

I  think,  however,  the  next  five  years  will  tell  a  dif- 
ferent story,  and  I  am  very  much  mistaken  if  some  of 
the  trout  ponds  now  under  way  do  not  yield  within 
that  time  some  very  handsome  returns  from  their  mar- 
keted trout. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  business  of  trout 
growing  in  only  one  of  its  branches  of  profit,  namely, 
raising  marketable  trout.  There  are,  as  is  well  known, 
two  other  sources  of  revenue  :  — 

1.  The  sale  of  spawn. 

2.  The  sale  of  young  stock. 

The  first  branch  can  hardly  be  considered  a  legiti- 


CONCLUDING   CHAPTER.  249 

mate  branch  on  which  to  base  permanent  returns,  be- 
cause the  sale  of  spawn  is  limited  to  establishments  that 
^  -  are  just  commencing  operations.  This  trade  is  a  large 
one  now,  because  so  many  establishments  are  starting ; 
but  these  will  soon  furnish  their  own  spawn  and  be- 
come sellers  instead  of  buyers,  and  when  the  prospec- 
tive fish-breeding  operations  of  the  country  are  all 
under  way  there  will  be  a  great  supply  of  eggs  with  a 
very  disproportionate  demand.  Indeed,  the  prospect 
is  that  the  spawn  trade  will  not  be  a  permanent  one  of 
any  great  value,  and  therefore  cannot  be  regarded,  in 
its  present  state  at  least,  as  a  legitimate  ground  for 
basing  permanent  expectations. 

It  is  not  so,  however,  with  the  trade  in  young  fry 
and  yearlings  for  stocking  other  waters.  It  is  a  uni- 
versal custom  now  with  owners  of  small  gardens  to 
buy  their  young  cabbages  and  tomatoes,  and  other 
vegetables,  of  the  large  producers,  because  it  is 
cheaper  than  to  start  them  themselves.  Farmers  also 
buy  their  pigs,  instead  of  breeding  them,  from  the  same 
cause.  Now  it  is  only  reasonable  to  expect  the  same 
rule  to  prevail  in  fish  raising,  as  it  certainly  does  at 
present.  Many  persons  who  have  ponds  and  streams, 
and  want  to  keep  them  stocked,  will  prefer,  and  will 
find  it  cheaper,  to  buy  their  young  stock  every  year 
than  to  work  all  winter  at  hatching  the  eggs.  The 
trade  in  young  stock,  therefore,  looks  as  if  it  would  be 
permanent,  and  appears  to  be  a  legitimate  source  from 
which  to  expect  an  income  in  trout-raising. 

This  forms  at  present  a  very  considerable  item  in 
the  business.  Young  fry  are  in  great  demand  in  New 
11* 


25O  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

England*  at  $25  a  thousand,  and  yearlings  at  $100 
a  thousand.  Many  thousands  of  them  could  be  sold 
at  this  day  for  these,  and  even  at  an  advance  on 
these  prices,  if  the  fish  could  be  had.  The  supply 
this  year  (1871)  has  not  nearly  kept  up  with  the  de- 
mand. 

We  here  find  in  the  sale  of  young  stock  quite  an 
addition  to  the  sources  of  the  trout  grower's  income, 
and  I  am  informed  by  those  who  are  operating  near 
the  large  cities  that  a  very  considerable  revenue  could 
be  obtained  at  their  places  by  charging  an  admission- 
fee  to  visitors. 

There  is  also  money  to  be  made  by  buying  and  fat- 
tening trout  for  the  market,  when  you  can  buy  them 
cheap  enough.  Good  thriving  trout  less  than  four 
years  old  will  double  their  weight  in  a  year,  and  some- 
times much  more.  Therefore,  if  you  put  a  thousand 
pounds  of  them  in  a  pond,  securely  protected,  they  will 

*  The  price-list  of  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  for  1871  is  as 
follows :  — 

Trout  Spawn,  warranted  live  and  healthy,  per  thousand  $  10.00 
Young  Trout,  one  inch  long,  first  thousand  .  .  .  30.00 

Each  additional  thousand 25.00 

Yearling  Trout,  four  or  five  inches  long,  per  thousand  100  oo 
Trout  for  the  Table,  dead  weight,  per  pound  .  .  .  i.oo 
Salmon  Spawn,  warranted  live  and  healthy,  per  thousand  50.00 

Each  additional  thousand 25.00 

Young  Salmon,  first  thousand 100  oo 

Each  additional  thousand 50.00 

Young  Black  Bass,  first  thousand 50.00 

Each  additional  thousand 25.00 

This  is  a  fair  statement  of  prices  current.  Some  dealers  charge 
more,  some  charge  less. 


CONCLUDING   CHAPTER.  25! 

in  a  year  become  two  thousand  pounds,  and  the  feed 
in  the  mean  time  will  not  cost  over  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  That  is  to  say,  the  increase  will  cost  you 
not  over  fifteen  cents  a  pound. 

When  these  various  sources  of  income  are  taken 
into  account,  in  connection  with  the  wide  margins  for 
profit,  it  is  obvious  that  successful  operations  cannot 
but  pay  well.  I  would  say,  however,  in  conclusion, 
that  I  do  not  wish  to  hold  out  false  inducements  to 
persons  to  go  into  the  business  with  the  hope  of  mak- 
ing great  fortunes.  The  item  of  risk  is  a  very  serious 
one  yet,  and  small  operators  cannot  expect  to  make 
more  than  a  fair  living.  With  many  it  will  not  pay  at 
all,  while  it  is  reserved  only  for  the  very  successful, 
and  for  those  .who  have  the  few  great  water  facilities 
of  the  country,  to  make  the  great  fortunes. 

SECTION  II.  —  RECAPITULATION. 

WATER. 
Cautions  to  be  observed  in  selecting  Water  for  Trout 

Breeding. 
Beware  of, 

1.  Insufficient  water. 

2.  Freshets. 

3.  Water  that  heats  in  the  summer. 

4.  Water  intrinsically  unsuitable. 

PONDS. 
Points  to  be  secured  in  building  Ponds. 

1.  Excavate,  rather  than  dam  up. 

2.  Build  compactly. 


252  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

3.  Build  small  ponds  for  business. 

4.  Be  able  to  draw  off  the  water. 

5.  Avoid  hiding-places. 

6.  Protect  ponds  thoroughly. 

BUILDINGS. 

A  full  set  of  buildings  or  rooms  consists  of, 

1.  Hatching  apartment. 

2.  Meat  apartment. 

3.  Store-room  and  carpenter's  shop. 

4.  Office. 

5.  Ice-house. 

THE   HATCHING  APPARATUS. 

The  hatching  apparatus  consists  of, 

1.  Supply  reservoir. 

2.  Aqueduct. 

3.  System  of  filters. 

4.  Hatching  apparatus  proper. 

THE   NURSERY. 

The  points  to  be  secured  about  the  nursery  are, 

1.  A  fall  of  water. 

2.  A  current. 

3.  Protection  from  suction  against  the  screens. 

4.  Security  from  overflow. 

5.  Absence  of  fixed  hiding-places. 

6.  Compactness. 

7.  Protection  against  natural  enemies. 

8.  Perfectly  tight  compartments. 


CONCLUDING   CHAPTER.  2$ 3 

TAKING  THE   EGGS. 

The  directions  for  taking  the  eggs  are, 

1.  Use  eggs  that  flow  easily,  and  no  others. 

2.  Use  ripe  milt,  and  no  other. 

3.  Make  quick  work. 

4.  Stir  well  while  stripping. 

5.  Allow  time  for  eggs  to  separate. 

6.  Rinse  thoroughly. 

HATCHING  THE   EGGS. 
Dangers.  Remedies. 

Fungus.  Carbonized  wood. 

Sediment.  Flannel  filters. 

Living  enemies.  Covers. 

Byssus.  Daily  examination. 

ALEVINS. 
Dangerous  Instincts. 

1.  To  hide. 

2.  To  pursue  a  current  of  water. 

THE  YOUNG  FRY. 
Directions. 

1 .  Have  healthy  well-fed  breeders. 

2.  Develop  strong  and  healthy  embryos  in  the 

egg- 

3.  Provide  suitable  place  for  young  fry. 

4.  Take  good  care  of  them. 


254  DOMESTICATED  TROUT. 

LARGE  TROUT. 

Precautions. 
Guard  against, 

1.  Freshets. 

2.  Overstocking. 

3.  Heated  water. 

4.  Careless  handling. 

5.  Cannibalism. 

6.  Fouled  water. 

7.  Natural  enemies. 

8.  Poachers. 

HOW  TO  GROW  VERY  LARGE  TROUT. 

Give  them, 

1.  Plenty  of  water. 

2.  Plenty  of  food. 

3.  (Relatively)  warm  water. 

4.  Wide  range. 

5.  Ample  space. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX    I. 
A  NEW  DISCOVERY.  — CURE   FOR  FUNGUS. 

SALT  A  CURE  FOR  MICROSCOPIC  PARASITES  ON  TROUT. 

IN  the  spring  of  1872  I  began  some  microscopic  exami- 
nations of  the  parasites  on  large  and  small  trout,  which 
led  to  the  discovery  of  a  cure  for  what  has  hitherto  been 
thought  to  be  incurable  disorder. 

It  is  well  known  that  when  trout  become  injured  or  un- 
healthy a  fungoid  growth  appears  in  blotches  over  the  sur- 
face of  their  backs,  usually  terminating  in  fatal  results  in  a 
few  days. 

It  has  hitherto  been  supposed,  I  believe,  that  the  fungus 
eats  into  the  tissues  of  the  fish,  and  destroys  it.  The  mi- 
croscope revealed,  however,  that  it  was  not  the  fungus  that 
penetrated  into  the  fish,  but  a  multitude  of  microscopic 
worms  of  the  shape  and  appearance  given  on  page  258. 
The  worms  are  never  found  in  the  upper  parts  of  the  fun- 
gus, but  just  below  at  the  roots,  or  where  the  fungus  joins 
on  to  the  surface  of  the  skin.  Here  between  the  roots  of 
the  fungus  and  the  body  of  the  fish  are  found  hundreds  of 
these  creatures  incessantly  in  motion  and  apparently  eat- 
ing vigorously.  They  are  about  -fa  of  an  inch  in  length 
and  -%^-fi  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  are  provided  with  a 
mouth  at  one  extremity  and  at  the  other  with  about  twenty 
claw-like  appendages  for  fastening  on  to  the  fish  on  which 
they  feed.  They  are  continually  eating  into  the  tissues  of 
the  fish,  and  the  twenty  tentacles  enable  them  to  fasten  on 
so  tightly  that  the  fish  cannot  shake  them  off.  These  para- 
sites appear  to  live  on  the  flesh  of  the  fish,  and  the  fungus 

Q 


258 


DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


to  live   on   the  digested   matter  into  which   they  trans- 
form it. 


Parasites  which  attack  Large  Trout,    a  Tentacles  for  fastening  to  the  fish ; 
b  Mouth. 

This  discovery  led  to  some  experiments  in  search  of  a 
remedy,  and  it  was  found  that  a  strong  solution  of  salt  de- 
stroyed the  parasites.  Experiments  were  then  made  of 
immersing  trout  in  salt  water,  and  it  was  found  to  be  per- 
fectly harmless,  if  not  too  long  continued.  A  method  was 
thus  found  of  killing  the  parasites  without  killing  the  fish, 
which  fact  was  confirmed  by  actually  taking  a  trout  cov- 
ered with  fungus  and  immersing  him  in  a  salt  bath  for 
a  moment  or  two,  and  afterwards  keeping  him  by  himself 
for  several  days.  The  fungus  peeled  off,  the  parasites 


APPENDIX    I. 


259 


were  killed,  the  bare  spots  healed  over,  and  the  trout  got 
well.     Others   were  tried;   some   died   and  some  lived. 


a  Microscopic  parasites  which  attack  trout  fry  ;  b  Water  insects  supposed 
to  be  destructive  to  trout  eggs. 

From  all  which  circumstances  we  may,  I  think,  draw  the 
following  conclusions  :  That  it  is  the  worm,  and  not  the 


260  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

fungus,  which  eats  into  and  kills  the  fish  ;  and  that  the  fish 
can  be  cured,  when  not  too  much  weakened,  by  immersion 
in  a  strong  solution  of  salt.* 

A  similar  series  of  experiments  led  to  the  discovery  that 
salt  is  also  a  cure  for  the  parasites  on  young  fish.  These 
parasites  are  smaller  than  those  which  infest  the  large 
fish.f  They  have  a  circular  form  with  a  diameter  of  about 
-£$  of  an  inch.  They  are  extremely  thin,  a*nd  progress  by 
a  rotatory  movement.  They  sometimes  swarm  in  immense 
numbers  upon  the  young  fish  that  are  attacked  by  them. 
They  do  not  cause  a  fungoid  growth,  as  the  larger  ones  do 
in  the  larger  fish,  but  the  young  trout  affected  with  them 
appear  outwardly  as  clean  and  well  as  ever.  If  the  para- 
sites are  not  removed,  however,  the  trout  will  lose  their 
strength  and  drift  down  toward  the  screen,  on  which  they 
will  probably  be  finally  caught  and  die.*  Salt  destroys 
the  parasites,  and  does  not  injure  the  young  fry.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  remedy  for  the  parasites.  Hundreds  of  ex- 
periments which  I  tried  of  putting  the  affected  young  trout 
in  salt  water  had  the  same  result,  which  was  to  kill  the 
parasites  and  restore  the  fish. 

I  will  also  add  in  this  connection  that  the  salt  bath 
seems  to  improve  the  young  fish  in  other  ways  than  by 
killing  the  parasites,  and  one  lot  of  young  fry  in  particular, 
confined  in  a  small  box,  which  I  cured  in  this  way,  and  to 
which  I  gave  a  pint  of  salt  every  day,  appeared  better  than 

*  I  used  a  table-spoonful  of  salt  to  a  pint  of  water,  and  kept 
the  fish  in  it  till  he  went  over  on  his  back,  and  then  took  him 
out  and  put  him  instantly  into  cold  running  water. 

t  I  have  sometimes  found  the  larger  parasites  in  small  num- 
bers on  the  small  trout,  but  have  never  found  the  circular  para- 
site on  large  trout. 

}  This  furnishes  one  explanation  of  what  so  many  trout 
breeders  have  remarked,  that  their  young  fry  seemed  to  die 
when  they  appeared  perfectly  healthy. 


APPENDIX    I.  26l 

any  other  young  fish  that  I  had.  I  have  accordingly  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  salt  is  beneficial  to  the  young  fish, 
and  that  large  quantities  can  be  used  to  advantage  in  the 
nurseries  of  the  young  fry,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  im- 
mersion, but  to  furnish  an  essential  element  in  which  the 
water  has  become  deficient.  All  spring  water,  it  is  said, 
contains  a  modicum  of  salt.  Perhaps  this  slight  trace  of 
salt  is  essential  to  the  health  of  the  fish.  If  so,  then  salt 
ought  to  be  supplied  artificially  when  trout  are  kept  in  a 
spring  stream  where  the  supply  of  salt  is  insufficient. 


APPENDIX    II.' 
JOURNEYS  OF  LIVE  FISH  AND  EGGS. 

T)  ELOW  will  be  found  a  brief  account  of  some  journeys 
-L*  with  live  fish,  which  may  serve  as  a  guide  to  begin- 
ners. 

1.  In  May,  1868,  I  sent  15,000  trout  fry  to  New  York 
City  and  various  intermediate  points,  in  care  of  Mr.  Frank 
H.  Osgood.     They  left  the  ponds  about  6  A.  M.,  and  were 
carried  in  ten  twelve-gallon  tin  cans  about  two  thirds  full 
of  water.     The  temperature  was  kept  low  and  even  with 
ice.    The  last  of  the  lot  did  not  reach  their  destination 
till  eleven  o'clock  the  next  morning.     The  water  was  not 
changed,  but  was  kept  well  aerated  during  the  journey. 
Very  *  few  died.     Mem.:   New  tin   answers  very  well  to 
transport  fish  in,  but  after  it  has  been  standing  a  long  time 
it  should  be  carefully  scoured,  as  it  gathers  an  oxide  which 
seems  to  be  partly  soluble  in  water,  and,  at  all  events,  is 
poisonous  to  the  fish.     The  young  salmon  for  the  Dela- 
ware River  were  lost  this  spring  from  a  similar  cause. 

2.  The  same  season  I  sent  by  express  two  lots,  of  500 
trout  fry  each,  to  Providence,  R.  I.,  about  120  miles,  with- 
out an  attendant.     They  all  died  on  the  way.    A  lot  of 
500  bass  fry  sent  by  express  to  Framingham,  Mass.,  about 
100  miles,  with  two  changes  of  cars,  met  the  same  fate. 
Mem.  :   It  is  not  safe  usually  to  send  live  fish  without  an 
attendant,  at  least  a  part  of  the  way. 

3.  In  the  fall  of  1868  Mr.  Osgood  took  several  yearling 
trout    to    the   New   England   Agricultural   Fair  at   New 
Haven,    157  miles,  and  exhibited  them  for  several  days 


APPENDIX    II.  263 

in  a  tank,  occasionally  changing  the  water.  They  bore 
the  journey  and  exhibition  admirably  and  without  loss, 
receiving  a  well-deserved  diploma. 

4.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  we  caught  live  salmon  in 
a  stake  net  on  the  Mirimichi  River,  confined  them  for  a 
while  in  a  pen  made  in  the  river,  conveyed  them  from  the 
pen  eleven  miles,  closely  packed  in  a  creel,  and  put  them 
into  a  pond.     At  first  many  of  them  became  covered  with 
fungus  and  died,  but  as  the  water  grew  colder  the  trans- 
portation injured  them  less  and  less,  and  late  in  the  fall 
they  suffered  very  little  from  handling. 

5.  In  December,   1868,  in  very   cold  weather,   nearly 
200,000  salmon  spawn,  the  eye-spots  then  becoming  visible, 
were  packed,  at  the  salmon  establishment  on  the  Mirimi- 
chi, in  moss  in  baskets,  and  the  baskets  in  large  boxes, 
and  taken  100  miles  on  a  sled,  100  miles  by  rail,  250  miles 
by  steamer,  and  220  miles  more  by  rail.     They  arrived 
at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  in  good  condition. 

6.  The   same  winter  salmon  spawn  and  trout  spawn 
packed  in  moss  were  sent   to    Mr.    Frank  T.  Buckland, 
H.  B.  M.  Commissioner  of  Fisheries.     The  trout  spawn 
arrived  in  England  in  first-rate  condition,  and  also  that 
portion  of  the  salmon  eggs  which  did  not  hatch  on  the 
way,  but  it  was  so  late  in  the  season  that  some  of  the 
embryos  hatched  and  perished. 

7.  In  the  spring  of  1869,  3,000  salmon  fry  were  sent  in 
two  twelve-gallon  cans  to  the  South  Side  Sportsmen's  Club, 
Long  Island,  in  care  of  an  attendant.     The  water  was  kept 
cold  with  ice,  and  the  salmon  did  well  till  about  10  P.  M., 
when  they  were  on  the  New  York  steamer,  and  had  been 
sixteen  hours  on  their  journey.     At  this  time  the  water 
was  partly  changed,  and  water  from  the  boat  was  used. 
Nearly  2,000  died  immediately,  the  rest  reaching  their  des- 
tination safely. 

8.  Another  lot  of  2,000,  to  make  up  this  loss,  was  sent 


264  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

soon  afterwards,  in  a  similar  way,  but  the  water  was  not 
changed  during  the  journey,  though  ice  was  used  freely. 
They  all  reached  their  destination  safely,  after  a  journey 
of  about  thirty  hours.  Mem.  :  It  is  much  safer  to  keep 
the  fish  in  water  that  you  are  acquainted  with  than  to  use 
that  with  which  you  are  not  acquainted. 

9.  In  the  spring  of  1869  I  had  three  lots  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain  and  Missisquoi  River  fish  transported  to  Charlestown, 
N.  H.,  consisting  of  Black  Bass  (Grystes  fasciatus]  ; 
Glass-eyed  Pike  (Lucioperca)  ;  Red-fin  Mullets  (Catosto- 
mus) ;  White-tailed  Mullets  (Catostomus) ;  Lake  Cham- 
plain  Shad,  Whitefish  (Coregonus) ;  Suckers  (Catosto- 
mus) '  Mascalonge  (Esox,  gill-covers  bare)  ;  Pickerel 
(Esox,  gill-covers  sealed) ;  Hornpouts,  Bull-heads  (Pi- 
melodus]  ;  Yellow  Perch  (Perca  flavescens)  \  Sheep's 
Head,  Drumfish  (Amblodori).  Their  journey  was  a  long 
and  severe  one.  They  were  first  taken  in  a  seine,  and 
confined  in  a  pound  a  day  or  two,  then  transferred  to  a 
hundred-gallon  wooden  tank,  and  conveyed  ten  miles  in  a 
row-boat  to  the  village  of  S wanton,  Vt.,  thence  to  the  railroad 
station  by  wagon,  thence  to  St.  Albans  by  rail,  where  they 
waited  several  hours  for  the  connecting  train.  They  then 
travelled  152  miles  by  rail  to  Charlestown,  where  they 
were  received  in  a  wagon  and  driven  to  the  Ponds.  Ice 
was  used  plentifully  on  the  way,  probably  too  much,  they 
being  warm-water  fish,  and  the  water  was  more  or  less 
aerated.  The  result  was  very  different  with  different  fish. 
There  were  about  forty  fish  in  the  tank  each  time,  all  full 
grown,  and  averaging  two  pounds  apiece.  All  the  shad 
(whitefish)  died  almost  immediately,  most  of  the  sheep's- 
heads  died  early  also,  and  almost  all  the  glass-eyed  pike. 
The  mullets,  perch,  suckers,  hornpouts,  and  pickerel  lived. 
Most  of  the  black  bass  lived.  The  survivors  are  still  at 
the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds,  and  are  doing  well.  Mem.  : 
Ice  should  be  used  cautiously  with  warm-water  fish.  The 


APPENDIX   II.  265 

Lake  Champlain  shad  (whitefish)  cannot  be  transported 
in  the  spring. 

10.  In    September,   1869,   ten  large  trout,  hatched  at 
Charlestown,  and  measuring  nearly  a  foot  in  length,  were 
taken  for  exhibition  at  the  Mechanics'  Fair  in  Boston. 
They  survived  the  journey  very  well,  although  they  were 
kept  two  days  and  one  night  in  a  tank  of  forty  gallons  of 
water.     They  were  ultimately  placed  in  a  glass  tank  in  the 
rotunda  of  Quincy  Hall,  where  an  arrangement  had  been 
made  to  run  a  constant  stream  of  water  over  them.     The 
temperature  of  the  water  varied  from  65°  to  73°,  but  was 
kept  down  somewhat  with  ice.     The  trout  lived  about  ten 
days  when  they  all  died.     A  second  lot  was  sent  for,  which 
survived  the  remaining  two  weeks  of  the  exhibition.    They 
received  a  silver  medal  and  the  diploma  of  the  Associa- 
tion. 

11.  In  May,  of  1870,  I  transported  1,000  yearling  trout 
to  North  Brookfield,   109  miles,  three  changes  of  cars, 
twelve  hours'  journey.     They  were  taken  in  a  tank  and  two 
barrels,  with  about  eighty  gallons  of  water,  which  was  kept 
very  cold,  and  well  aerated.    Forty-one  died  on  the  journey. 

12.  On  the  20th  of  May,  the  same  year,  one  very  hot 
day,  I  carried  10,000  trout  fry  to  Bristol,  Conn.,  138  miles, 
twelve  hours,  with  three  changes  of  cars.     They  were  car- 
ried in  six  twelve-gallon  cans,  with  about  fifty  gallons  of 
water.     Only  seven  died  on  the  way. 

13.  In  the  fall  of  1870  I  carried  20,000  trout  spawn, 
just  taken,  in  a  pail  of  water,  seven  miles  in  a  wagon,  with- 
out loss. 

14.  In  the  spring  of  1871  I  sent  10,000  trout  fry  to  Nor- 
way, Me.,  120  miles  by  rail,  100  by  boat,  and  40  miles 
more  by  rail.     The  journey  took  twenty-eight  and  a  half 
hours.     They  were  carried  in  a  tank,  in  forty  to  fifty  gal- 
lons of  water,  and  plenty  of  ice.     There  was  a  loss  of 
about  500,  many  of  which  had  been  bruised  by  the  ice. 

12 


266  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

15.  In  the  same  spring  I  took  500  yearlings  and  12 
large  trout,  very  fat,  in  the  same  tank,  in  forty  gallons  of 
water,  to  Webster,   Mass.,   no  miles,  in  thirteen  hours, 
with  three-  changes  of  cars.     All  seemed  in  first-rate  con- 
dition,  with  the   exception    of   half   a    dozen    yearlings, 
which  appeared  to  have  been  bruised.     Mem.  :  In  travel- 
ling by  rail  with  fish,  it  is  better  to  have  one  large  tank 
than  several  smaller  ones,  provided  you  do  not  carry  over 
about  fifty  gallons  of  water.     More  than  this  makes  it  too 
heavy  to  be  handled  safely  in  the  hurry  of  railway  travel. 

1 6.  On  the  2oth  of  November,  1871,  10,000  trout  eggs 
were  packed  in  sphagnum  moss  in  a  common  wooden  box 
about  a  foot  square,  at  Charlestown,  N.  H.    They  went  from 
Charlestown  to  Boston,  120  miles  by  rail,  on  the  same  day. 
They  remained  in  Boston  over  night,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing were  put  on  board  the  ocean  steamer  which  sailed  that 
day.     They  had  a  long  passage  of  eighteen  days  to  Liver- 
pool, and  a  considerable  journey  by  rail  afterwards  from 
Liverpool  to  Keswick.     At  the  end  of  the  journey  two 
thirds   were    found    in    good    condition,   although    some 
hatched  on  the  way  and  died,  and  the  byssus  generated 
by  these,  and  by  some  of  the  eggs  that  were  killed  during 
the  first  part  of  the  trip,  made  great  havoc  in  places. 


APPENDIX    III. 
ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

/CONTAINING  tables  of  spawn  in  various  fishes  ;  the 
^ —  seasons  when  fish  spawn  ;  the  months  when  fish  are 
in  good  condition  ;  of  water  plants  suitable  for  fish  ponds  ; 
the  months  when  it  is  illegal  to  catch  trout  in  the  various 
States  ;  also  trout  breeding  outfit,  tricks  for  managing 
domesticated  fish,  tricks  for  managing  the  enemies  of 
fish,  etc. 

NUMBER  OF  SPAWN  IN  DIFFERENT  FISH. 


Buckland's  Table.* 

Species.  Weight  of  fish. 

Trout  I    Ib. 

Jack  4£  Ibs. 

Perch  £  Ib. 

Roach  |  Ib. 

Smelt  2    oz. 

Lumpfish  2    Ibs. 

Brill  4   Ibs. 

Sole  i    Ib. 

Herring  \  Ib. 

Mackerel  i    Ib. 

Turbot  8    Ibs. 

Cod  20    Ibs. 


Total  number  of  eggs. 

1,008 

42,840 

20,592 
480,480 

36,652 
116,640 

239,775 
134,466 

19,840 

86,120 

385,200 
4,872,000 


Buckland's  Fish  Hatching,  p. 


268  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

Atkins's  Table* 

Species.                            Weight  of  fish.  Number  of  eggs. 

Yellow  Perch                       3^  oz.  9,943 

River  Smelt                           2    oz.  25,141 

Fresh-water  Smelt              10    oz.  80,000 

Whitefish  (Coregonus)           2    Ibs.  25,076 

Schoodic  Salmon  (average)    |  Ib.  about  600 

Sebago  Salmon  (full  count)  2  Ibs.  10  oz.  2,368 

Number  of  Spawn  in  other  Fish  not  mentioned  in  the  above 
Tables. 

Species.  Weight  of  fish.                   Number  of  eggs. 

Herring  5!  oz.                           265,650 

Flounder  1,000,000 

Mullet  13,000,000 

Tench  383,250 

Bream  —                                137,800 

Carp  66  Ibs.                        342,140 

Sturgeon  200  Ibs.                      7,000,000 

Pike  272,160 

The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  salmon  eggs 
taken  at  the  writer's  establishment  at  Mirimichi  in  1868. 
The  fish  averaged  in  weight  about  nine  pounds,  and  were 
found  to  yield,  like  salmon  everywhere  else,  a  very  uniform 
average  of  1,000  eggs  to  the  pound,  when  all  the  eggs  were 
saved. 

October  15,  1868,         80,000  eggs  from  8  salmon. 
16,    "  55,000    "       "    5      " 

"          17,      "  8l,500      "  "    12        " 

"  20,  "  8,000  "  "  2  "  partly  spawned. 

"  21,  "  53,000  "  «  8  " 

"  23,  "  5,000  "  "  i  " 

"  24,  "  18,000  "  "  3  " 

*  Maine  Fisheries,  Report,  1869,  p.  24. 


APPENDIX    III.  269 


October  26,  1868,         21,000  eggs  from  4  salmon.* 
«       29,     "  10,600     "        "    2      " 

The  following  table  is  a  portion  of  Seth  Green's  report 
to  the  New  York  Commissioner  of  Fisheries  of  the  shad 
spawning  on  the  Hudson  in  1870,  showing  the  number  of 
spawn  in  shad. 

Extracts  from  Report  of  Shad  Fisheries  in  the  Hudson 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  1870.! 

May  26,  caught  20  shad  at  night,  2  ripe  fish,  70,000  spawn. 

"  27,  caught  12  shad,  I  ripe  fish,  took  40,000  spawn. 

"   30,  fished  at  night,  got  23  shad,  9  ripe  fish,  260,000  spawn. 

"  31,  caught  74  shad,  8  ripe  fish,  took  210,000  spawn. 
June    i,  caught  35  shad,  4  ripe  fish,  took  100,000  spawn. 

"     2,  caught  108  shad,  6  ripe  fish,  took  150,000  spawn. 

"     3,  caught  90  shad,  12  ripe  fish,  took  250,000  spawn. 

"     4,  caught  133  shad,  7  ripe  fish,  took  165,000  spawn. 

"   n,  caught  86  shad,  7  ripe  fish,  took  165,000  spawn. 

"   12,  caught  70  shad,  n  ripe  fish,  took  240,000  spawn. 

"    13,  caught  39  shad,  6  ripe  fish,  took  120,000  spawn. 

"    14,  caught  32  shad,  2  ripe  fish,  took  55,000  spawn. 

The  following  is  the  record  of  the  trout  spawning  during 
the  month  of  October,  1870,  of  one  pond  at  the  Cold  Spring 
Trout  Ponds.  The  trout  averaged  about  half  a  pound  in 
weight. 

Number  of  eggs.  Number  of  fish. 

October  12  1,000  2 

"        15  600  i 

"        1 8  2,400  3 

19  2,400  4 

*  It  should  be  observed  that  the  salmon  in  the  river  finished 
spawning  by  the  24th  of  October,  and  that  the  eggs  taken  after 
that  time  were  from  the  fish  captured  in  the  artificial  ponds. 

t  New  York  Citizen,  October  15,  1870. 


27O  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

Number  of  eggs.  Number  of  fish. 
October  20                           2,500  3 

"        21  2,500  4 

22  1,800  3 

23  1,800  3 
"       24                          1,200  3 

"  25  2,300  4    k 

"  26  4,150  8 

"  27  4,600  10 

"  28  5,400  ii 

"          29  2,200  4 

"       30  4,200  10 

31  7,400  13 

The  following  table  shows  the  time  of  spawning  in  the 
latitude  of  Northern  New  England  of  some  of  our  more 
common  American  migratory  and  fresh-water  fishes. 

Migratory  Fishes. 

Smelt  ( Osmerus  viridescens)  April. 

Shad  (Alosa  prestabilis)  May  and  June. 

Alewife  (Alosa  tyrannus)  May  and  June. 
Menhaden  (Alosa  Menhaden]  May  and  June. 
Striped  Bass  (Roccus  lineatus,  Gill, 

Labrax  lineatus,  Cuv.)  July- 
Salmon  (Salmo  salar)  October. 

Fresh-water  Fishes. 

Perch  Pike  (Lucioperca}  Last  of  April. 

Pickerel  (Esox  reticulatus}  Last  of  April  and  first  of  May. 

Yellow  Perch  (Perca  flaviscens)  April  and  May. 

White  Perch  (Merone  americana}  June. 

Roach  (Pomotis  appendix)  May. 

Sunfish  (Pomotis  vulgaris,  Cuv.)  May. 

Sucker  (Catostomus)  May. 

Rock  Bass  (Centrarchtis  aneus}  May. 

Bottom  Pike  (variety  of  Lucioperca}  May. 


APPENDIX   III.  271 

Mullet  (Catostomus)  June. 

Black  Bass  ( Grystes  fasdatus]         June. 
Hornpout,  Catfish  (Pitnelodus)      September. 
Trout  in  ordinary  brooks  (Salmo 

fontinalis)  October  and  November. 

Blue-back  Trout  (Salmo  oquossa)    October. 
Schoodic  Trout  (Salmo  sp.)  November. 

Sebago  Salmon  (Salmo  sp.)  Last  of  Oct.  and  first  of  Nov. 

Lake  Trout,  Togue  (Salmo  toma)  Last  of  Oct.  and  first  of  Nov. 
Whitefish  (Coregonus  albits)  November. 

Trout  in  spring  water  (Salmo 

fontinalis)  Nov.,  Dec.,  Jan.,  Feb. 

Table  of  M.  Coste. 

PERIODS  OF  SPAWNING  OF  CERTAIN   KINDS  OF  (EUROPEAN)   FISH  WHICH 
.REPRODUCE  IN   FRESH  WATER. 

Name  of  the  species.  Time  of  spawning. 

Salmon  (Salmo  salar)  From  November  to  February. 

Salmon  Huch  (S.  hucho}  April  and  May. 

Trout  (S.fario)  From  October  to  February. 
Common  Ombre  (S.  thymallus)       April  and  May. 

Ombre  Chevalier  (S,  iimbla)  February,  March,  and  April. 

Lavaret  (  -5".  Wartmanni)  August,  September,  and  Oct. 

Fera  ( Coregonus  f era]  January  and  February. 

Shad  ( Ctupea  alosa)  March,  April,  and  May. 

Pike  (Esox  lucius)  February,  March,  and  April. 

Carp  (Cyprinus  carpio)  From  May  to  September. 

Bream  ( C.  brema)  End  of  April  and  May. 

Gibele  ( C.  gibelio)  May,  June,  and  July. 

Tench  (C.  tinea)  June  and  July. 

Perch  (Perca  fluviatilis)  March,  April,  and  May. 

Note.  —  The  periods  indicated  in  this  table,  varying  according 
to  places  and  climates,  must  not  be  considered  as  fixed,  but  as 
terms  considering  which  it  is  possible  to  guess  pretty  nearly  the 
times  at  which  the  eggs  of  the  different  species  will  be  likely  to 
hatch  by  artificial  means. 


2/2  DOMESTICATED  TROUT. 

TlMFS  WHEN  IT  IS  ILLEGAL  TO  TAKE  TROUT  IN  SOME 
OF  THE  STATES. 

Maine  r  October,  November,  December,  January. 

New  Hampshire  :  September,  October,  November. 

Vermont :  September  I5th  to  3oth,  October,  November. 

Massachusetts :  September  2oth  to  3Oth,  October,  November, 
December,  January,  February,  March  ist  to  2oth. 

Rhode  Island  :  July,  August,  September,  October,  November. 

Connecticut :  September,  October,  November,  December,  Janu- 
ary, February,  March. 

New  York :  October,  November,  December,  January,  February. 

New  Jersey  :  September,  October,  November,  December,  Janu- 
ary, February. 

Pennsylvania  :  August,  September,  October,  November,  Decem- 
ber, January,  February,  March. 

California :  January,  February,  March,  April,  May. 

THE  MIRIMICHI  AND  MISSISQUOI  RIVERS. 

There  are  two  rivers  in  the  vicinity  of  New  England  so 
prolific  in  fish  that  they  should  be  known  to  every  one  who 
is  interested  in  fishes  as  they  swim,  and  who  enjoys  study- 
ing them  and  their  habits. 

These  two  rivers  are  the  Missisquoi  and  the  Mirimichi. 
The  first  produces  chiefly  warm-water  fishes  ;  the  second, 
migratory  fishes  of  the  best  sort,  and  each  is  a  marvel  of 
its  kind.  The  fish,  at  the  right  season,  fairly  swarm  in  both 
of  these  rivers. 

To  illustrate  the  vast  quantities  offish  in  the  Mirimichi, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  within  five  years  one"  haul 
of  the  net  drew  out  10,600  striped  bass  *  at  North  Esk. 
Smelts  were  so  plenty,  previous  to  1868,  that  they  were  liter- 
ally scooped  up  out  of  the  water  by  barrels  full,  and  used 
to  manure  the  ground.  Salmon  sold  for  60  cents  apiece, 

*  At  Fulton  Market  prices,  this  one  haul  would  bring  ten  thou- 
sand dollars. 


APPENDIX    III.  273 

and  trout  were  so  plenty  that  they  had  no  sale  at  all.* 
Very  fine  eels  were  killed  by  the  barrel  full  by  rapping 
them  on  the  head  with  a  stick  as  they  came  up  the  small 
brooks  by  night. 

The  writer,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Joseph  Goodfellow 
of  Mirimichi,  shipped  to  Boston  and  New  York,  during 
the  three  months,  January,  February,  and  March,  1869, 
30,490  pounds  of  striped  bass,  frozen  ;  46,946  pounds  of 
smelts,  frozen  ;  8,908  pounds  of  sea  trout,  frozen. 

Previous  to  our  starting  this  work,  these  enormous  sup- 
plies of  fish  were  of  no  value  to  the  inhabitants.  Since 
then  a  lucrative  trade  in  these  fish  has  been  continued. 

We  paid  at  first,  in  1868,  3^  cents  per  pound  for  striped 
bass,  2\  cents  per  pound  for  smelts,  3^  cents  per  pound 
for  trout.  The  prices  have  risen  very  much  since  the 
trade  was  opened,  and  make  these  fisheries  a  considerable 
source  of  revenue  to  the  Mirimichi  people. 

The  Mirimichi  River  rises  near  the  head-waters  of  the 
St.  John,  and  flows  northeasterly  into  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence.  To  go  to  the  Mirimichi  River  from  Boston, 
you  take  a  steamer  to  St.  John,  300  miles,  the  cars  from 
St.  John  to  Shediac,  100  miles,  and  steamer  from  Shediac 
to  New  Castle,  Mirimichi,  100  miles  more. 

The  most  valuable  fish  caught  in  the  Mirimichi  are 
Salmon  (Salmo  salar) ;  Striped  Bass  (Labrax  lineatus) ; 
Sea  Trout  (Salmo  trutta) ;  Brook  Trout  (Salmo  fontina- 
lis) ;  Smelt  (Osmerus  mridescens] ;  Sturgeon  (Acipenser) ; 
Eel  (Anguilla). 

The  Missisquoi  River,  though  not  so  rich  in  fish  as  the 

*  The  writer  saw  repeatedly  a  school  of  about  two  hundred 
large  trout  under  a  bridge  where  the  most  travelled  highway 
crossed  a  small  brook  emptying  into  the  Mirimichi.  These  trout 
summered  here.  No  one  thought  them  worth  molesting,  and 
they  consequently  lost  their  shyness,  so  as  not  to  be  at  all  afraid 
of  the  teams  and  persons  passing. 

12*  R 


2/4  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

Mirimichi,  is  yet  deserving  of  acquaintance  from  the  gen- 
eral variety  and  abundance  of  its  inhabitants.  This  river, 
which  is  in  the  northern  part  of  Vermont,  empties  into 
Lake  Champlain  at  Missisquoi  Bay,  very  near  the  Canada 
line.  You  can  go  directly  from  Boston  via  Fitchburg, 
Cheshire,  and  Vermont  Central  Railroads,  leaving  the 
cars  at  the  Swanton  Station,  distance  288  miles.  The 
chief  fisheries  are  (between  Swanton  Village  and  the  Lake. 
The  fishing  is  done  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  with  sweep 
seines,  as  soon  as  the  ice  goes  out. 

The  fish  caught  in  the  Missisquoi  River  and  Bay  are, 
Red-fin  Mullet  (Catostomus)  ;  White-tail  Mullet  (Cato- 
stomus) ;  Glass-eyed  Pike,  Perch  Pike  (Luciopercd)  ;  Lake 
Champlain  Shad,  Whitefish  (Coregonus  albus)  ;  Sheep- 
head,  Drumfish  (Amblodoii)  ;  Mascalonge,  gill -cover 
bare  (Esox)  ;  Pickerel,  gill-cover  scaled  (Eso.r)  ;  Bottom 
Pike  (Luciopercd)  ;  Black  Bass  (Grystes  fasciatus)  ;  Os- 
wego  Bass  (Coregonns  otsego)  ;  Mud  Fish,  Fresh  Water 
Lusk  {Lota)  ;  Ling*  (Lota)  ;  Sturgeon  (Acipenser)  ;  Shin- 
er (Leuciscus  americanus)  ;  Bullhead,  Catfish  (Pimelo- 
dus)  ;  Rock  Bass  (Centrarchus  ceneus)  ;  Sunfish  (Pomo- 
tis  vulgaris)  ;  Sucker  (Catostomus)  ;  Yellow  Perch  (Perca 
flavescens)  ;  Eel  f  (Anguilla)  ;  Salmon,  fifty  years  ago 
(Sal mo  salar). 

With  the  exception  of  the  Trout,  Salmon,  and  White- 
fish,  all  these  fish  spawn  in  the  spring  and  summer. 

The  following  list  contains  the  names  of  some  water 
plants  suitable  for  trout  ponds  and  nurseries  :  — 

Arrowhead  (Sagittaria  sagittifolid)  ;  Arrowhead  (Sa- 
gittaria  acutifolia)  ;  Water-cress  (Nasturtium  officinale) ; 
Water-cress  (Nasturtium  hispidunt)  ;  Winter-cress  {Bar- 
bar  ea  vulgar  is)  ;  Yellow-eyed  Water  Grass  (Scholltra 

*  This  fish  is  thought  by  the  fishermen  to  be  the  parent  of 
the  eel. 

+  Is  the  eel  a  hybrid  ?     No  eggs  or  young  are  ever  found  in  eels. 


APPENDIX    III.  275 

gramined)  ;  Water-lobelia  {Lobelia  dortmannd)  ;  Water- 
milfoil  {Myriophyllum  verticillatunt)  ;  Water-milfoil  {My- 
riophyllum  ambiguuni)  \  Water- weed  (Anacharis  cana- 
densis)  ;  Water-lily,  white  (Nymphea  odorata)  ;  Water-lily, 
yellow  {Nuphar  advend)  ;  Water-lily,  small  yellow  (Nu- 
phar  pnmila)  ;  Northern  Calla  (Calla  palustris)  ;  Float- 
ing Bur-reed  (Sparganium  natans)  ;  Pond-weed  {Pota- 
mogeton  natans)  ;  Pond-weed  {Potamogeton  setaceuni)  ; 
Sweet-flag  {Acorns  calamus)  ;  Starwort,  broad-leaved  (Cal- 
letriche  verna)  ;  Starwort,  narrow-leaved  (Calletriche  au- 
tnmnalis')  ;  Horn  wort  (Ceratophyllum  dejnersuni) ;  Tape- 
grass  (Vallisneria  americand);  Common  Rush  (Juncus')  ; 
Club  Rush  (Sctrpus)  ;  River-weed  or  Thread-foot  (Podos- 
temon  ceratophylluni)  ,  Duck  Meat  (Lemna  minor") ;  Duck 
meat  (Lemna  gibbd)  ;  Sphagnum  Moss  (Sphagnum}. 

List  of  the  most  necessary  and  convenient  articles  that 
are  used  about  a  trout-breeding  establishment :  — 

Meat-cutter  and  stand.  Grater  for  preparing  meat  for 
young  fry.  Tin  boxes  for  sending  spawn.  Water  pails. 
Cans  for  carrying  young  fry.  Small  fine  nets  for  catching 
young  fish.  Landing-net  for  large  fish.  Small  sweep - 
seine.  Flannel  for  filters.  Fine  copper-wire  netting. 
Coarse  galvanized  iron-wire  netting.  Shears  for  cutting 
wire  netting.  Brush  for  cleaning  screens.  .  Sponge. 
Broom.  Small  shovel  for  moving  gravel  in  troughs. 
A  good  meat-knife.  Spouts  for  temporary  use.  Portable 
trap-boxes  for  temporary  use.  Large  boxes  for  holding 
gravel.  Traps  for  muskrats,  minks,  and  kingfishers. 
Homoeopathic  bottles  for  specimens  of  embryos,  etc.  Al- 
cohol for  preserving  specimens.  Feathers  and  nippers  for 
picking  over  eggs.  Gun.  Common  agricultural  tools,  as 
shovel,  etc.  Common  carpenters'  tools,  as  hammer,  saw, 
etc.  Thermometer.  Microscope. 

To  be  used  at  the  spawning  beds  :  — 

Large  tubs.  Three  large  pails.  Landing  net.  Impreg- 
nating pans.  Timeoiece.  Thermometer.  Note-book. 


2/6  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


TRICKS  WITH  TROUT. 

If  you  want  to  make  the  colors  of  trout  deep  and  dark, 
grow  them  over  a  black,  muddy  bottom,  well  shaded.  If 
you  want  to  cultivate  light  and  delicate  tints,  grow  the 
trout  on  a  light,  open,  gravelly  bed. 

If  you  want  to  have  trout  short  and  deep,  and,  to  use  an 
expressive  Americanism,  "  chunky,"*  grow  them  in  a  deep, 
still  pond.  If  you  want  to  have  them  long  and  slim,  grow 
them  in  a  shallow,  swift  current. 

If  you  want  to  have  the  trout  in  your  ponds  come  to 
spawn  any  particular  day,  turn  on  a  large,  swiftly  running 
stream,  and  they  will  come  up.  If  you  wish  to  retard 
their  spawning  for  a  day,  let  a  small  slow  stream  over  them, 
and  they  will  wait. 

If  there  is  a  fall  of  water  where  trout  run  wild,  set  a 
common  bushel  basket  behind  the  fall  in  a  perpendicular 
line  with  the  top  of  the  dam.  The  trout  will  spring  up 
the  fall  in  the  line  of  the  current  in  attempting  its  passage  ; 
but,  if  not  successful,  will  fall  back  in  the  line  of  gravita- 
tion and  be  caught  in  the  basket.  If  you  wish  to  trap 
trout  from  below  into  an  enclosure  above,  on  a  brook, 
screen  it  at  the  desired  place,  and  arrange  a  pendent  gate 
or  door  of  wire  netting  in  the  screen,  as  in  a  mouse-trap, 
so  that  they  can  go  through,  but  cannot  come  back.  This 
will  work  quite  successfully  in  the  spawning  season,  when 
the  trout's  instinct  to  go  up  stream  is  very  strong. 

If  you  wish  to  take  trout  out  singly  from  a  pond  without 
hurting  them,  bait  a  line  (without  a  hook)  with  an  inch- 
square  piece  of  red  flannel.  The  trout  will  swallow  it  just 
far  enough  to  allow  himself  to  be  pulled  out  on  the  bank, 
but  not  far  enough  to  hurt  him. 

If  you  want  trout  to  frequent  a  particular  place  in  your 
pond,  feed  them  there  regularly.  If  you  want  them  to  re- 

*  Also  provincial  in  England,  I  believe. 


APPENDIX    III.  277 

treat  to  any  particular  place  in  your  pond,  feed  them  regu- 
larly, excavate  a  hole  there,  and  darken  the  bottom,  placing 
light  gravel  throughout  the  rest  of  the  pond.  They  will 
always  go  there  when  disturbed,  unless  too  tame  or  expect- 
ing feed. 

If  you  are  carrying  trout  in  a  barrel  or  tank,  and  want 
to  make  them  rise  from  the  bottom,  give  the  barrel  a  knock 
or  a  blow  near  the  bottom.  The  trout  will  instantly  rise. 
If  you  want  to  make  them  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  tank, 
shake  a  white  handkerchief  over  them. 

After  a  trout  appears  perfectly  dead  from  suffocation 
(want  of  air),  you  can,  if  he  has  not  been  left  too  long  in 
this  condition,  bring  him  back  to  life  by  vigorously  aerat- 
ing the  water 

Commence  tickling  a  trout  underneath  with  your  hand, 
and  in  a  little  while,  if  you  are  gentle  and  patient,  you 
will  so  mesmerize  him  that  you  can  raise  him  out  of  the 
water,  on  the  open  palm  of  your  hand,  without  his  strug- 
gling- 

If  you  want  to  attract  trout  to  your  bait,  use  the  oil  of 
rhodum,  or  anise,  or  cumin.  The  smell  of  salmon  roe 
also  attracts  them  It  is  said  that  the  scent  of  petroleum 
and  tar  is  enticing  to  them.  Walton  recommended  the 
use  of  petroleum. 

If  you  want  to  net  out  trout  in  the  night,  arrange  a  lan- 
tern so  that  you  can  sink  it  in  the  water.  Once  in  the 
water  the  fish  will  gather  around  it,  and  will  become  so 
bewildered  that  you  can  net  them  out  without  difficulty, 
whether  wild  or  tame. 

If  you  want  to  prevent  a  lot  of  trout  from  being  hooked 
out  in  the  night  by  poachers,  feed  them  well  towards  even- 
ing, and  then  catch  out  two  or  three  with  a  small  hook, 
and,  after  a  moment  or  two,  throw  them  back.  They  will 
create  a  panic  amongst  the  rest,  so  that  there  will  be  no 
more  tishingthat  night  with  a  hook. 


2/8  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

If  you  want  to  see  whether  trout  notice  sounds,  creep  up 
cautiously,  with  a  bell  and  revolver,  to  where  you  can  see 
them  without  their  seeing  you,  then  scream  with  all  your 
might,  ring  the  bell,  and  fire  the  pistol.  If  they  do  not  see 
any  of  your  motions,  they  will  not  move  a  fin. 

TRICKS  WITH  TROUT  EGGS,  OTHER  FISH,  MUSKRATS, 
ETC.,  ETC. 

If  you  want  to  have  trout-  eggs  hatch  in  the  summer, 
^eep  them  on  ice  for  six  months.  If  you  want  to  hatch 
them  in  a  month,  keep  a  stream  of  warmish  water  running 
over  them.  This  you  can  do  by  bedding  the  supply-pipe 
in  a  bank  of  fresh  horse-manure.  Make  the  pipe  small, 
and  give  it  several  turns  in  the  bank. 

If  you  want  to  see  a  trout-egg  hatch,  take  one  that  is 
just  ready  to  break  the  shell  and  put  it  in  warm  water,  say 
at  70°,  the  warmth  will  often  stimulate  the  embryo  into 
breaking  the  shell. 

If  you  want  to  drive  alevins  from  a  particular  corner 
where  they  have  collected,  pour  a  few  cups  of  water  over 
the  spot,  which  will  drive  them  away,  then  fill  in  with  whit- 
ish gravel,  which  will  keep  them  away  to  some  extent. 

If  a  trout,  not  over  two  and  a  half  inches  long,  strikes 
at  a  black  spider  in  the  water,  the  spider  will  strike  back 
at  him,  and  if  he  takes  a  good  aim  will  kill  the  trout  in- 
stantaneously. The  little  fellow  will  not  go  twelve  inches 
before  he  turns  over  on  his  back  and  drops  down  dead. 

If  you  throw  small  balls,  made  of  the  fisher's  berry 
(Cocculus  indicus),  into  the  water,  the  fish  will  eat  it,  be- 
come poisoned,  and  rise  to  the  surface  dead. 

If  you  have  occasion  to  carry*  live  bullheads  *  any  dis- 

*  The  bullhead  (Pimelodns)  is  very  tenacious  of  life.  Fisher- 
men often,  by  a  half-dissecting  and  half-flaying  process,  take  the 
meat  out  of  a  bullhead's  body  for  their  chowder,  leaving  only 
the  head,  skin,  and  fins.  This  more  than  eviscerated  shell  of  a 


APPENDIX    III.  279 

tance,  you  can  do  so  by  packing  them  in  wet  moss  (Sphag- 
num). They  will  live  forty-eight  hours  in  it.  Or,  if  it  is 
in  the  winter,  you  can  freeze  them  up  and  carry  them,  if 
you  do  not  freeze  them  so  stiff  but  that  you  can  bend 
them  easily.  This  you  can  also  do  with  pickerel  and  other 
fish. 

When  muskrats  begin  to  come  up  your  brook  in  the 
fall,  set  your  traps  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  and  place 
obstructions  (stakes  or  anything)  on  each  side  of  the  trap, 
as  far  as  the  bank.  The  rats  will  go  into  the  trap,  rather 
than  go  around  or  over  the  obstruction.  If  the  muskrats 
have  succeeded  in  getting  up  into  your  ponds,  sink  a  barrel 
into  the  pond,  fill  it  a  little  less  than  half  full  of  water,  and 
put  a  sweet  apple  in  it.  The  rats  will  get  into  it  after  the 
apple,  and  cannot  get  out 

If  minks  have  got  into  your  ponds,  push  one  end  of  a 
plank  into  the  water,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  pond,  and 
let  it  rest  so,  obliquely,  on  the  bank,  facing  the  south.  Put 
your  trap  on  the  plank,  so  that  the  mink  must  step  into  it 
if  he  comes  up  on  the  plank.  He  will  presently  climb  up 
the  plank  to  sun  himself,  and  will  be  caught. 

If  kingfishers  or  fish  hawks  molest  your  trout,  erect  a 
pole  on  the  bank,  and  fasten  a  common  steel  trap  on  the 
top  of  it.  The  birds  will  surely  light  on  the  pole  to  watch 
their  prey,  and  will  almost  always  be  caught.  If  large 
herons  visit  the  ponds,  place  a  number  of  steel  traps  in 
any  shallow  part  of  the  pond  where  their  tracks  are  seen. 
The  heron's  feet  are  so  large  that  he  will  not  be  long  step- 
ping into  one  of  the  traps.  The  traps  should  be  firmly 
fastened,  of  course. 

If  you  wish  to  know  whether  poachers  visit  the  ponds 

creature  will  immediately  gain  his  equilibrium  in  the  water,  and 
endeavor  to  move  off  with  as  natural  a  motion  of  the  fins  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  This  sickening  sight  I  have  often  seen 
at  the  Missisquoi  River. 


28O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

at  night,  tie  cords  across  the  paths,  or,  if  the  ground  is 
suitable,  strew  a  layer  of  fine  sand  around  the  ponds. 
The  breaking  of  the  cords  or  footprints  on  the  sand  will 
reveal  the  presence  of  the  nocturnal  visitors. 

FREEZING  FISH.* 

From  the  Scientific  American,  January,  1854. 

I  have  witnessed  repeatedly,  the  two  winters  I  have  been 
here,  the  resuscitation  of  frozen  trout,  pickerel,  and  perch, 
on  thawing  them  out  in  fresh  running  water,  even  after 
they  had  been  carried  for  miles. 

It  is  only  under  certain  circumstances,  however,  that 
they  will  revive.  If  caught  on  a  day  when  it  is  cloudy  and 
freezing  hard,  and  if  not  hurt  with  the  hook,  and  they 
freeze  immediately  on  being  thrown  on  the  ice,  they  will 
revive  on  being  thawed  out.  But  if  allowed  to  toss  about 
in  the  sun,  on  a  clear  day,  and  probably  not  freeze  for  an 
hour  or  two  after  they  are  caught,  then  they  will  never 
revive. 

It  is  so  common  a  thing  that  I  have  only  to  go  back  to 
the  last  day  I  was  fishing,  for  an  example  of  it.  I  went 
down  to  Lake  Sandford  with  one  of  our  men,  on  the  29th 
ultimo,  and  at  night  we  carried  home  in  our  packs  eleven 
pickerel,  all  frozen  hard,  and  bent  and  curved  just  as  they 
happened  to  twist  themselves  before  freezing.  We  put 
them  into  a  trough  of  running  spring  water,  and  when 
thawed  out  found  six  of  them  alive.  The  others  had  prob- 
ably been  caught  in  the  warmest  part  of  the  day,  and  died 
before  they  froze.  The  same  day  fifteen  fine  brook  trout 
were  brought  from  Lake  Andrew,  five  miles  distant,  in  a 
pack,  and  on  being  thawed  out  several  of  them  revived, 
though  I  did  not  notice  how  many.  They  are,  however,  a 
much  more  delicate  fish  than  the  pickerel  or  perch,  and 
more  easily  hurt  and  killed  than  either  of  them. 

*  Compare  Embryofagie  des  Sal m ones,  C.  Vogt,  p.  17. 


APPENDIX    IIL  28l 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  24th  ultimo  I  had  fished  faith- 
fully for  pickerel  till  sundown,  without  even  getting  an  en- 
couraging nibble ;  tired  at  last  of  that  fun,  I  took  out  a 
small  hook  and  line,  and  soon  had  twenty-five  perch ;  they 
froze  almost  instantly  ;  I  strung  them  on  a  crotched  twig, 
carried  them  so  for  two  miles,  and,  when  thawed  out,  found 
fourteen  of  them  alive,  the  rest  having  been  hurt  either  by 
tne  hook  or  the  twig. 

The  pond  behind  the  village,  formed  by  the  damming 
of  the  river,  is  full  of  young  pickerel ;  they  are  all  from 
three  fish  put  in  there  last  winter,  one  male  and  two  fe- 
males. All  of  them  were  brought  from  Lake  Sandford 
frozen,  and  were  put  into  the  pond  after  they  had  been 
thawed  out  in  a  trough.  The  male  I  caught ;  it  lay  on 
the  ice,  frozen,  for  three  hours,  and  then,  not  finding  a 
mate  for  him,  I  ran  a  stick  through  his  gills,  and  dragged 
him  home  on  the  snow,  two  miles,  threw  him  into  the 
trough,  and  thought  no  more  of  him  till  next  morning, 
when  I  found  him  alive,  and  seemingly  enjoying  himself  as 
well  as  his  narrow  limits  would  permit.  I  took  pity  on  the 
poor  fellow,  carried  him  down  to  the  pond,  and  he  went 
off  like  a  dart. 

These  are  but  a  few  instances  of  what  occurs  almost 
every  day  the  winter  through.  The  fact  of  their  resuscita- 
tion after  being  frozen,  as  I  have  described,  is  known  to 
every  one  here  who  is  in  the  habit  of  fishing  in  winter,  and 
cannot  escape  being  noticed,  as  the  weather  is  cold  enough 
almost  all  the  time  to  freeze  them,  and  they  have  to  be 
thawed  out  before  they  can  be  cleaned. 

I  have  heard  fishermen  say  that  they  have  taken  *rout 
when  frozen,  and  whittled  the  fins  and  tail  off,  and,  on 
being  thawed,  found  them  alive ;  but  I  have  never  tried 
this  or  any  other  experiment  with  them,  and  would  not 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  it. 


282  DOMESTICATED  TROUT. 

FIRST  AUTHENTIC  ACCOUNT  OF  FLY-FISHING. 

Extract  from  ^Elian's  History  of  Animals,  XI.  i,  A.  D.  230. 

I  have  heard  this  account  of  a  mode  of  fishing  in  Mace- 
donia. In  a  river  called  Astraeus,  which  flows  between 
Beraea  and  Thessalonica,  are  found  fishes  marked  with  va- 
rious colors  (spotted  trout).  These  feed  upon  flies  that 
play  upon  the  water,  which  are  unlike  any  other  flies,  —  dif- 
fering from  bees,  wasps,  or  hornets,  but  of  a  distinct  spe- 
cies. They  have  the  boldness  of  other  flies,  are  about  the 
size  of  hornets,  of  the  color  of  wasps,  and  make  a  bum- 
bling noise  like  bees.  These  they  call  "iKKovpov.  These, 
as  they  sport  on  the  surface,  the  fish  see  ;  and,  moving 
slyly  through  the  water  till  they  get  under  the  insect,  leap 
upon  it  as  a  wolf  upon  a  sheep  in  a  flock,  or  an  eagle  uppn 
one  of  a  flock  of  geese,  and,  seizing  their  prey,  sink  again 
into  the  deep  water.  This  the  fishermen  observed,  but 
could  not  use  them  for  bait,  as,  when  caught  in  the  hand, 
the  flies  lost  their  color  and  their  wings ;  for  which  cause 
they  hated  them  (the  fishes  glutting  themselves  upon  the 
bait  which  the  angler  knew  not  how  to  use).  But,  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  as  their  angling  science  advanced,  they  learned 
to  outwit  the  fish  by  their  ingenuity.  They  first  wrapped 
around  their  hook  some  Phcenician  (purple)  wool,  and  then 
tied  on  two  feathers,  or  the  wattles  of  a  cock's  neck,  of  a 
wax  color.  This  they  threw  with  a  pole  or  reed,  an  opytuct, 
four  cubits  long  (there  must  be  a  mistake  here,  for,  at  the 
utmost,  that  would  not  be  more  than  seven  or  eight  feet), 
and  a  line  of  the  same  length.  These  cunning  artifices 
they  threw  on  the  water,  and  the  fish,  attracted  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  pretty  insect  they  feed  upon,  seized  the 
bait,  and  were  caught. 


APPENDIX   III.  283 


ANCIENT  FISH  STORY.* 

The  farthest  stretch  of  profane  writers  into  the  history 
of  fishing  is  the  mention  made  by  Diodorus  Siculus  (Lib. 

I.  52)  of  Moeris,  the  immediate  predecessor  of  Seso§tris 
(see  Larcher,  Chron.  d'Hdrodote,  and  Bahr  on  Herodotus, 

II.  100),  which,  according  to  Champollion  Figeac,  would 
put  him  about  B.C.  1500  (perhaps  a  hundred  years  too 
soon).     This  Moeris,  the  historian  says,  constructed  the 
famous  artificial  lake  called  by  his  name,  which  was  eighty 
stadia  long  and  rpirc\c6pov  (say  four  hundred  feet)  broad, 
and  it  cost  fifty  talents  to  open  and  shut  the  flood-gates. 
In  the  middle  he  erected  two  sepulchral  pyramids,  one  for 
himself  and  the  other  for  his  wife,  with  marble  statues  of 
them  both  on  a  throne.     But  it  was  also  a  vast  fish-pond, 
having  in  it  twenty-two  different  kinds  of  fish,  which  in- 
creased so  fast  that  the  most  extensive  preparations  for 
salting  them  were  not  sufficient  for  the   purpose.     The 
revenue  derived  from  the  fishing  he  assigned  to  his  wife, 
who  had  thus,  out  of  that  source,  a  talent  ($  10,000)  a  day 
for  pin  money.     The  passage  is  curious,  as  showing  the 
importance  of  fish  as  an  article  of  food. 

A  DISSERTATION  ON  SHAD. 

From  the  Belfast  Journal. 

The  shad  was  named  for  old  Shad-rach,  whom  Nebu- 
chad-nezzar  considered  a  scaly  chap,  till  after  he  passed 
through  his  fiery  furnace,  when  he  was  found  to  be  a  man 
of  much  backbone,  and  in  this  respect  the  shad  resembles 
him  in  great  quantities.  Shad  are  nature's  pin-cushions 
for  bones.  They  are  built  of  the  refuse  stuff  that  was  left 
after  all  the  rest  of  the  fish  were  concocted.  The  interior 

*  Bibliographical  preface  to  Wiley  and  Putnam's  edition  of 
Complete  Angler,  p.  viii. 


284  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

of  a  shad  looks  like  a  fine-tooth  comb  or  a  wool-card,  and 
the  best  way  to  get  the  meat  out  is  to  use  a  toothpick.  A 
little  later  in  the  season  and  the  shad  will  make  their  ap- 
pearance. When  they  come,  they  come  a  good  deal ;  there 
is  many  of  him  ;  he  is  multitudinous.  We  are  not  read 
up  as  to  where  the  shad  lives  before  he  comes  this  way, 
but  he  boards  where  they  set  a  poor  table.  When  he  first 
puts  in  an  appearance,  he  is  extremely  emaciated.  He  is 
so  thin  that  his  skin  don't  fit  him,  hence  the  phrase  "  thin 
as  a  shad."  You  can't  get  anything  thinner  than  a  spring 
shad,  unless  you  take  a  couple  of  them,  when,  of  course, 
they  will  be  twice  as  thin.  They  look  much  like  a  porgie, 
—  about  twice  as  much,  but  they  are-  not  so  high-scented. 
Shad  fishing  is  a  lucrative  business.  If  the  fisherman  has 
good  luck,  they  will  net  hirn  considerable,  or  he  will  net 
them  considerable,  we  are  doubtful  which.  They  are  fast. 
They  don't  stop  to  loaf  any  more  than  a  thoroughbred  pill, 
but  just  keep  right  on  about  their  business. 

A  person  to  like  shad  wants  to  eat  them  often,  at  near 
intervals,  once  every  twenty-four  hours  for  eleven  or  nine- 
teen weeks.'  The  champion  place  for  getting  up  an  appe- 
tite for  shad  is  at  a  Brooklyn  boarding-house.  The  thing 
there  is  reduced  to  a  science.  As  soon  as  shad  becomes 
cheap  and  plenty,  the  landlady  announces  at  the  breakfast- 
table  that  she  will  have  shad  for  dinner.  The  boarder 
immediately  goes  to  his  room  and  puts  on  the  poorest  shirt 
he  has,  and  when  he  comes  to  dinner  he  has  provided  him- 
self with  a  magnifying  glass,  which  makes  the  bones  look 
larger,  a  small  basket  to  put  the  bones  in,  a  toothpick,  and 
a  pair  of  tweezers.  When  one  eats  shad  he  wants  to  eat 
it ;  he  don't  want  to  talk  or  discuss  the  state  of  affairs  in 
France,  as  he  will  get  so  full  of  the  bony  parts  that  he  will 
sigh  for  a  little  more  Bourbon.  When  he  swallows  a  bone, 
all  he  has  to  do  is  to  take  his  tweezers  and  pull  it  out ; 
after  one  learns  this  art  it  is  simple  and  even  graceful.  It 


APPENDIX   III.  285 

is  calculated  that  during  the  shad  season  a  good  shad-eater 
will  get  from  ten  to  fifteen  bushels  of  bones  from  what  shad 
he  eats.  After  the  last  shad  is  destroyed,  he  tears  off  his 
shirt,  sandpapers  off  the  ends  of  the  bones  which  are  stick- 
ing out  through  his  skin,  dons  clean  linen,  and  is  himself 
again.  If  we  have  in  our  remarks  said  aught  that  looks 
as  though  we  had  wandered  from  the  truth,  we  are  willing 
to  vouch  for  correctness  by  furnishing  all  sceptics  with  a 
written  affidavit 


APPENDIX    IV. 
PATENT  CARBONIZED   HATCHING  TROUGHS. 

WHEN  the  first  efforts  at  trout  breeding  were  made 
in  this  country,  wooden  troughs  were  used  for  hatch- 
ing the  eggs.  It  was  soon  found  that  the  fungus  which 
grew  on  wood  when  under  water  was  exceedingly  destruc- 
tive to  the  eggs.  Indeed,  of  all  the  dangers  to  which  the 
eggs  were  exposed,  fungus  proved  to  be  the  worst.  It  de- 
stroyed them  by  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  and 
those  which  it  did  not  actually  kill  it  rendered  worthless  by 
exhausting  their  vitality.  It  therefore  became  indispensa- 
ble to  abandon  the  use  of  wood  for  hatching  trout  eggs. 
The  great  want  was,  then,  to  find  something  which,  by 
being  inexpensive,  accessible,  and  at  the  same  time  safe 
from  fungus,  would  supply  the  place  of  the  old  wooden 
troughs.  The  emergency  brought  out  various  materials,  — 
soapstone,  slate,  pottery,  glass,  metallic  screens  and  pans, 
wood  lined  with  glass,  and  other  things,  all  of  which  were 
tried  and  found  to  be  either  inadequate  or  expensive,  and 
the  want  of  a  cheap  and  safe  material  was  still  unsup- 
plied. 

It  was  at  this  time,  after  many  useless  experiments,  and 
the  loss  of  many  thousands  of  eggs,  that  the  writer  hit 
upon  charred  or  carbonized  wood.  This  was  tried,  and 
found  to  answer  the  purpose  beyond  all  expectations. 
Nothing  could  be  conceived  more  perfect  in  its  adaptabil- 
ity. The  problem  was  solved.  In  carbonized  wood  was 
found  an  inexpensive,  accessible,  and  perfectly  effective 
material  for  hatching  fish  eggs,  without  danger  from  fun- 


APPENDIX   IV.  287 

gus.  It  is  also  one  of  the  most  durable  and  easily  handled 
things  in  the  world.  And  this  is  not  all.  It  has  invari- 
ably been  my  experience  that  in  any  instance  where  the 
carbonized  hatching  troughs  have  been  used,  not  only  have 
the  eggs  been  free  from  fungus,  and  have  therefore  hatched 
better,  but  the  young  fry  have  lived  better;  and  the  con- 
trast between  the  effect  of  the  charred  wood  and  the  raw 
material  in  this  respect  has  been  very  marked  indeed. 
While  the  young  fish,  hatched  in  the  old  wooden  troughs, 
seemed  to  drop  down  dead  from  no  assignable  cause,  the 
fry  hatched  in  the  charred  troughs  showed  a  wonderful 
tenacity  of  life,  that  became  more  and  more  surprising 
every  day.  I  have  hatched  over  a  million  eggs  in  these 
troughs,  and  speak  from  experience,  and  my  experience 
has  been,  without  an  exception,  to  confirm  the  belief  that 
the  fry  hatched  in  this  material  do  not  die  as  they  did 
under  the  old  method.  It  is  a  fact  that  can  be  confirmed 
by  my  assistants,  that  in  some  of  the  charcoal  troughs  last 
year  less  than  one-tenth  per  cent  were  lost  by  death  in  the 
first  three  months,  with  the  exception  of  deformed  ones. 
This  year  it  has  been  the  same  ;  and  if  any  one  will  take 
the  pains  to  visit  my  hatching  house,  I  will  show  him 
charred  troughs,  which  the  water  has  run  through  for  six 
months  or  more,  that  are  as  clean  from  fungus  as  when 
the  water  was  turned  on  in  the  fall,  and  also  troughs  of 
young  fry,  where  death  is  a  rare  occurrence. 

The  exclusive  right  to  use  charcoal  and  charred  wood 
for  hatching  fish  eggs  has  been  secured  to  the  writer  in 
the  United  States  by  letters  patent ;  but  even  with  the 
royalty  paid  for  the  right  to  use  charred  wood  it  is  still 
the  cheapest  thing  that  can  be  found,  as  well  as  the  best. 
The  reader  can  see  the  saving  in  expense  in  the  use  of 
charcoal  troughs  over  glass  grilles  by  looking  at  the  fol- 
lowing figures  :  — 


288  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

Glass  grilles  for  hatching  100,000  eggs  cost,  say  80  at 

$3. 50  apiece  . $280 

Carbonized  troughs  for  hatching  100,000  eggs  cost  for 
Lumber  and  labor       .        .        .        .        .        .     $  15 

Right  to  use 25 

Total  cost  40 

Balance  in  favor  of  charcoal  troughs        ..••-£  240 

This  is  an  important  saving  of  money ;  but  there  is  a 
still  greater  saving  in  the  lives  of  the  young  fish  after  they 
are  hatched. 

These  considerations  lead  me  to  think  that  for  business 
the  carbonized  troughs  stand  the  test  better  than  anything 
in  use.  I  will  only  add  that  the  work  of  preparing  the 
carbonized  lining  to  the  trough  is  very  trifling,  and  can  be 
done  in  a  few  moments  and  at  an  insignificant  expense. 


APPENDIX    V. 

BRIEF  SKETCH   OF  OPERATIONS   AT    THE    COLD 
SPRING  TROUT   PONDS. 


establishment  was  the  first  of  its  kind  undertaken 
-L  in  New  England  for  making  a  business  of  fish  breed- 
ing. It  is  located  in  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  a  town  on  the 
Connecticut  River,  about  fifty  miles  by  rail  above  the 
Massachusetts  line.  The  water  supply  consists  of  two 
streams,  both  fed  by  springs,  and  running  about  10,000 
gallons  an  hour  in  dry  weather.  The  hatching  house  is 
built  at  the  source  of  one  of  these  streams,  and  has  a  sup- 
ply of  2,000  gallons  an  hour,  at  47°  Fahrenheit.  The 
breeding  ponds  are  built  at  the  junction  of  the  two  streams, 
and  receive,  when  required,  all  the  water  from  both. 

1866. 

The  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  commenced  operations  in 
the  summer  of  1866,  when  two  or  three  small  ponds  were 
built,  and  a  hatching  building,  8  feet  by  16,  was  erected. 
This  building  hatched  15,000  trout  the  following  winter. 

1867. 

My  whole  attention  was  given  the  next  year  (1867)  to 
growing  the  young  fry,  it  being  my  conviction  that  every- 
thing now  depended  upon  successful  operations  in  this  par- 
ticular department.  I  felt  certain  that  here  was  the  weak 
point  in  trout  raising.  Trout  had  been  hatched  by  the 
hundred  thousand.  Trout  enough  had  come  into  being 
by  artificial  means  to  fill  the  market  to  overflowing,  if  they 
13  s 


2QO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

had  grown  up.  But  where  were  they?  Domestic  trout 
ought  to  have  been  as  plenty  as  codfish  ;  instead  of  that, 
there  were  none  to  be  had. 

I  therefore  made  the  growing  of  the  young  fish  a  severe 
and  unremitting  study  the  first  year,  and  was  rewarded 
with  success  ;  not  that  I  did  not  lose  many  young  fry,  for  I 
lost  a  great  many,  but  I  raised  some,  and  in  most  instances 
where  they  died  I  thought  I  saw  a  removable  cause.  I 
now  believed  that  time  and  study  would  prevent  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  first  year's  growth,  and  proceeded  to  extend 
my  operations.  The  original  hatching  house  was  enlarged 
into  a  building  16  feet  by  24,  and  a  large  new  hatch- 
ing house,  60  feet  by  27,  was  put  up,  with  500  feet  of 
hatching  troughs.  That  fall  over  100,000  trout  eggs  were 
laid  down,  beside  40,000  salmon  eggs,  which  were  sent  by 
the  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  Commissioners 
to  be  hatched  here  for  the  Connecticut  River. 

1868. 

The  next  spring  (1868)  the  plan  of  the  rearing  box  was 
completed,  the  object  of  which  is  to  protect  the  young  fish 
from  accident,  and  from  their  natural  enemies.  It  will  not, 
of  course,  feed  them,  or  keep  them  from  dying  of  diseases, 
but  it  will  save  them  from  the  two  very  prolific  causes  of 
loss  just  mentioned,  namely,  accidents  and  natural  enemies. 
This  spring,  and  during  the  winter,  some  of  the  salmon 
eggs  and  young  fry  were,  with  the  consent  of  the  Commis- 
sioners, sent  to  Professor  Agassiz.  They  were  the  first 
live  specimens  of  the  American  SaJmo  salar  that  the  great 
naturalist  had  seen,  and  drawings  were  taken  of  them 
for  his  projected  work  on  the  Salmonidas  of  this  conti- 
nent. 

During  the  same  spring  another  pond  was  built,  and  a 
few  black  bass  introduced  from  Lake  Champlain.  There 
were  also  100,000  young  bass  hatched  in  some  small  arti- 


APPENDIX    V.  291 

ficial  ponds  in  New  York  State,  which  formed  a  branch  of 
the  Cold  Spring  Farm.  It  is  a  good  evidence  of  the  in- 
creased public  interest  in  fish  culture  that  now  there  is  an 
incessant  demand  for  black  bass,  while  in  1868  I  had  but 
one  order  for  bass  fry  during  the  whole  summer.  In  the 
fall  of  this  year  I  built  a  large  salmon-breeding  estab- 
lishment, with  extraordinary  natural  facilities,  on  the  Miri- 
michi  River,  New  Brunswick.  Nearly  half  a  million  sal- 
mon eggs  were  taken  here  this  year,  one  half  of  which 
went  by  agreement  to  the  Canadian  Department  of  Fish- 
eries, and  the  other  half  were  taken  to  the  hatching  house 
at  Charlestown.  Various  causes  had  reduced  the  num- 
bers, however,  and  each  half  was  estimated  at  only  183,000  ; 
100,000  of  these  were  sold  to  the  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire  Commissioners  for  $  1,600,  and  sent  to  Messrs. 
Robinson  &  Hoyt,  at  Meredith  Village,  N.  H.,  to  be  hatched 
by  them  for  the  Merrimack  River.  Other  lots  were  sent  to 
various  parties,  among  others,  the  South  Side  Club,  New 
York ;  W.  Clift,  Poheganut  Ponds,  Conn. ;  Colonel  Theo- 
dore Lyman,  for  Massachusetts  State  Hatching  House, 
and  E.  A.  Brackett,  Winchester,  Mass.  One  lot  was  sent  to 
England  to  Mr.  Frank  Buckland,  British  Commissioner  of 
Fisheries,  and  was  favorably  noticed  in  the  London  Times. 

One  salmon  of  this  fall's  take  of  eggs,  now  three  years 
old,  was  kept  till  last  winter  (1872)  at  Charlestown,  in  the 
fresh  water  it  was  hatched  in.  It  is  a  smolt,  but  very 
much  dwarfed,  and  is  the  oldest  tame  salmon  in  America. 

One  lot  of  yearling  trout,  hatched  here  in  the  year  1867, 
took  a  diploma  at  the  Connecticut  River  Agricultural  Fair. 
Another  lot  took  a  diploma  at  the  New  England  Fair  at 
New  Haven. 

1869. 

In  the  spring  of  1869  about  100  spring  spawning  fish 
were  brought  from  the  Missisquoi  River  to  the  Cold  Spring 
Trout  Ponds,  consisting  chiefly  of  black  bass,  glass-eyed 


DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 


pike,  mullet,  yellow  perch,  and  one  large  Esor,  well  known 
to  visitors  as  the  "big  pickerel."  These  fish  are  quite 
large,  and  though  of  not  much  profit  are  a  fine  sight,  and 
afford  observers  an  opportunity  of  studying  their  ways. 
In  the  fall  of  this  year,  the  trout,  now  two  years  old,  which 
took  diplomas  at  the  last  year's  agricultural  fairs,  received 
a  diploma  and  silver  medal  at  Boston  at  the  exhibition  of 
the  Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanics'  Association.  In 
the  same  fall,  carbonized  or  charred  wood,  for  hatching 
trout  eggs,  was  tried  at  the  hatching  house  in  Charlestown, 
and  was  found  to  answer  its  purpose  perfectly.  This  was 
the  year  of  the  great  freshet,  which  wrecked  so  many  trout 
ponds.  It  fortunately  did  no  harm  at  the  Cold  Spring 
Farm. 

1870. 

The  next  year,  1870,  the  demand  for  trout  eggs  and 
young  trout  had  very  much  increased.  Preparations  to 
meet  this  demand  were  made  at  the  Cold  Spring  Trout 
Ponds.  The  carbonized  hatching  troughs  were  introduced 
throughout  in  the  hatching  buildings,  and  250,000  trout 
eggs  were  laid  down  in  them.  In  the  mean  time  a  fine  lot 
of  yearlings  had  been  brought  through  the  last  year.  Sev- 
eral consignments  of  large  trout  had  been  sent  to  Fulton 
Market,  New  York,  and  one  of  the  largest  hotels  in  Bos- 
ton had  been  supplied  through  the  summer. 

1871. 

The  next  spring,  1871,  the  demand  for  eggs  and  young 
fish  was  a  quarter  of  a  million  more  than  the  establishment 
could  furnish.  The  large  trout  brought,  in  Fulton  Market, 
in  April,  $  1.25  per  pound.  The  right  to  use  charcoal  and 
carbonized  wood  for  hatching  fish  was  patented  June  20, 
1871. 

Four  new  ponds  were  built  this  year,  1871,  and  lined 
with  carbonized  two-inch  plank.  A  large  number  of  year- 


APPENDIX   V.  2Q3 

lings  were  sold  this  year,  the  demand  for  this  size  being 
larger  than  ever  before.  In  the  fall  of  1871  nearly  300,000 
trout  eggs  were  laid  down  in  the  hatching  troughs. 

Ten  thousand  of  them  were  sent  to  Europe.  Most  of 
them  arrived  safely,  and  have  since  hatched.  Some  of 
them  are  in  Mr.  Frank  Buckland's  Museum  at  South  Ken- 
sington, England,  and  were  noticed  by  him  as  follows,  in 
Land  and  Water,  published  in  London. 

"  Salmon  and  Trout  Breeding  at  South  Kensington.  — 
The  breeding  troughs  at  my  Museum  of  Economic  Fish 
Culture  are  now  almost  as  full  as  they  can  be.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  catalogue  of  the  eggs  and  fry  :  Salmo  fontina- 
lis,  or  American  Brook  Trout,  brought  over  by  Mr.  Par- 
naby  of  Troutdale  Fishery,  Keswick.*  These  are  beautiful 
little  fish,  of  about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  long.  They 
have  almost  absorbed  their  umbilical  bag,  and  will  shortly 
begin  to  feed.  I  propose  to  feed  them  on  the  roe  of  soles. 
These  American  fish  are  much  more  active,  and,  I  was 
going  to  write,  —  it  may  be  even  so,  —  intelligent  fish  than 
our  salmon  or  trout  (Sa/mo  fario).  Possibly  they  have 
imbibed  some  of  the  national  American  sharpness.  I 
think  I  shall  consult  them  on  the  Alabama  question." 

The  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  received  this  fall  the  sole 
agency  in  the  United  States  for  the  sale  of  the  British  fish 
hatched  at  the  celebrated  Keswick  establishment,  the  lar- 
gest in  England.  The  experiment  of  taking  trout  eggs  by 
the  Russian  or  dry  method  of  impregnation  was  tried  this 
season  at  the  Cold  Spring  Farm  with  astonishing  success, 
the  yield  of  fish  being  95  per  cent  of  the  eggs  taken. 
This  method  will  be  hereafter  adopted  here  altogether. 

*  The  original  article  in  Land  and  Water,  above  quoted, 
states  that  the  fish  came  from  Mr.  Wilmot's  establishment  in 
Canada.  This  is  an  error,  as  every  Salmo  fontinalis  which  Mr, 
Parnaby  took  to  England  came  from  my  hatching  house  at  the 
Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds. 


294  DOMESTICATED  TROUT. 

1872. 

In  February,  1872,  the  trout  and  salmon  from  these 
ponds  took  a  silver  medal  and  a  bronze  medal  at  the  exhi- 
bition of  the  New  York  State  Poultry  Society  at  Albany. 

The  trout  hatched  out  this  year  have  done  wonderfully 
well ;  up  to  the  present  time  (August),  very  few  losses  in- 
deed have  occurred. 

Some  of  the  young  fry  which  hatched  in  England  from 
the  eggs  sent  over  last  fall  are  now  in  possession  of  Her 
Majesty  Queen  Victoria.  The  salmon  hatched  last  year 
(yearlings)  are  looking  finely,  although  much  dwarfed.  In 
June  of  this  year,  Mr.  Parnaby,  of  Keswick,  England, 
visited  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  some  black  bass  to  carry  across  the  Atlantic. 
A  large  quantity  of  these  fish  were  furnished  him,  and 
were  doing  well,  at  last  accounts,  when  the  steamer  con- 
veying them  sailed  from  New  York. 

The  demand  for  trout  and  trout  eggs  has  been  good  this 
year  at  the  Cold  Spring  Farm,  and  two  new  plank  ponds 
have  been  built.  Other  plans  of  improvement  were  con- 
templated, but  the  proprietor  having  been  appointed 
Deputy  Commissioner  of  the  United  States  to  conduct 
the  salmon  breeding  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  has  left  them 
to  be  carried  out  by  his  agent  in  charge. 

A  peculiar  feature  about  this  farm  is  that  it  hatches  eggs 
at  the  halves  for  all  the  neighboring  trout-raisers,  they  pre- 
ferring to  have  their  eggs  hatched  so,  to  incurring  the  risk 
and  labor  of  doing  it  themselves. 


APPENDIX    VI. 

SALMON-BREEDING    ESTABLISHMENT   ON   THE 
MIRIMICHI. 

T)  REVIOUS  to  1868  the  few  salmon  eggs  that  had  come 
•t  into  the  United  States  to  stock  its  depleted  streams 
were  obtained  at  random,  and  in  quantities  totally  inad- 
equate to  the  requirements  of  the  great  American  salmon 
rivers.  It  was  evident  that  something  must  be  done  on  a 
more  extended  scale  to  carry  out  the  now  rapidly  forming 
purpose  of  restoring  the  salmon  in  those  rivers  ;  and  in 
the  spring  of  1868  the  writer  conceived  the  idea  of  organiz- 
ing a  large  salmon-breeding  establishment  on  one  of  the 
New  Brunswick  rivers,  all  of  which  are  famous  for  the  vast 
quantities  of  salmon  which  they  contain. 

The  Mirimichi  was  chosen,  on  account  of  its  accessi- 
bility and  its  capacity  for  supplying  parent  fish  in  abun- 
dance. On  the  farm  of  Mr.  Joseph  Goodfellow,  eight  miles 
above  Newcastle,  on  the  river,  was  found  a  very  large 
even-flowing  spring  and  a  spring  brook  running  within  a 
few  feet  of  it,  and  both  within  sixty  rods  of  the  river  it- 
self. A  large  hatching  house,  one  hundred  feet  by  twenty- 
seven,  was  built  of  three-inch  deals,  just  below  the  spring. 
The  house  was  provided  with  nearly  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
of  hatching  troughs  laid  in  rows  parallel  with  its  length. 
A  pond,  having  an  area  of  about  an  acre,  was  built  below 
the  house.  This  was  connected  with  the  river  by  a  flume. 
The  spring  water  and  brook  water  were  turned  through 
the  house,  thence  into  the  pond,  and  thence  into  the 
river. 


296  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

Nothing  could  be  more  admirably  suited  to  its  purpose. 
One  of  the  best  rivers  in  the  world  to  furnish  the  parent 
salmon,  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  water,  both  brook  and 
spring,  to  hatch  the  eggs  in,  a  hatching  house  capable  of 
turning  out  millions  of  young  fry  annually,  and  immediate 
communication  with  the  river  for  letting  the  parent  salmon 
in  and  out.  The  place  was  as  near  perfect  in  its  adapta- 
tions as  could  be  wished.  As  soon  as  the  site  was  se- 
lected, and  before  any  work  was  done,  a  plan  of  the  whole 
undertaking  was  laid  before  the  Hon.  Peter  Mitchell,  the 
Canadian  Minister  of  Marine  and  Fisheries.  After  some 
consultation,  the  plan  was  favorably  received,  and  we  were 
instructed  by  the  minister  to  prepare  a  full  statement  in 
writing  of  our  plan  of  operations,  with  a  request  for  per- 
mission to  take  from  the  Mirimichi  River  the  parent  salmon 
required  for  our  work. 

This  statement  and  petition  having  been  prepared  and 
submitted  to  the  minister,  he  replied,  upon  reading  it, 
"Go  on  with  your  work,  gentlemen  ;  your  wishes  will  be 
granted."  The  work  of  building  the  house  and  pond  was 
prosecuted  without  delay,  and  in  September,  the  writer 
being  then  in  Boston,  Mr.  Goodfellow,  acting  on  the  oral 
authorization  of  the  minister,  began  fishing- in  the  river 
with  a  stake-net  for  the  parent  salmon.  The  fishery  war- 
dens, acting  in  accordance  with  their  general  instructions, 
though  hastily,  we  think,  immediately  took  up  and  confis- 
cated the  large  forty-fathom  net  which  had  been  used,  and 
released  the  captured  salmon.  As  it  was  then  the  close 
season,  and  as  the  fishing  wardens  had  received  no  in- 
structions from  headquarters  to  make  an  exception  in 
favor  of  our  nets,  they  were  certainly  only  doing  their 
duty.  On  the  other  hand,  as  they  knew,  though  not 
through  an  official  source,  that  the  undertaking  had  the 
sanction  of  the  head  of  the  Fisheries  Department,  and  as 
the  salmon  were  not  to  be  killed,  but  only  confined  alive  in 


APPENDIX    VI.  297 

a  pond  close  to  the  river,  where  they  could  be  returned  to 
it  at  any  time,  if  it  was  found  that  they  were  wrongly 
captured,  and  especially  as  one  half  of  all  the  young  fry 
hatched  were,  according  to  agreement,*  to  go  back  to 

*  OTTAWA,  September  2,  1868. 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  directed  by  the  minister  to  state,  that  he 
has  considered  the  proposal  made  by  your  letter  of  2oth  ultimo, 
in  continuance  of  a  verbal  proposition  made  to  him  when  at 
Mirimichi,  having  in  view  the  establishment  of  breeding-beds 
and  ponds  for  the  artificial  production  of  salmon  at  North  Esk, 
on  the  northwest  branch  of  the  river  Mirimichi. 

The  department  cannot  allow  any  bounty,  such  as  you  men- 
tion, nor  attach  any  exclusive  right  to  the  enterprise  in  question, 
neither  afford  any  guaranty  whatever  for  the  expense  you  may 
incur,  but  will  extend  to  it  such  facilities  as  are  warranted  by  the 
interest  which  the  public  may  have  in  your  success,  and  shall 
appear  to  be  justified  from  time  to  time  by  the  earnestness  and 
good  faith  of  your  endeavors  or  the  actual  fruits  of  your  opera- 
tions. 

At  present  it  is  deemed  proper  to  specify  in  what  terms  the 
requisite  authority  can  be  conveyed  to  you. 

1.  That  at  private  cost  you  shall  make  and  keep  in  efficient 
repair  suitable  rearing  and  feeding  ponds,  and  spawning  beds, 
and  a  proper -hatching  house  with  troughs,  and  the  other  neces- 
sary appliances  at  a  brook  emptying  into  the  northwest  branch 
of  the  river  Mirimichi,  on  the  south  bank  thereof,  on  the  prop- 
erty of  Mr.  Joseph  Goodfellow,  in  the  parish  of  North  Esk,  as 
named  by  you. 

2.  That  this  establishment  shall  be  built  and  maintained  for 
the  bonafide  purpose  of  hatching  and  rearing  salmon. 

3.  That  from  the  time  of  impregnation,  and  during  the  period 
of  incubation,  the  salmon  ova  obtained  for  or  deposited  in  this 
establishment    shall  be  and  be   deemed   the   property   of   the 
crown,  and  one  half  of  the  young  salmon  so  hatched  and  reared 
therein,  or  in  connection  therewith,  snail  be,  and  continue,  the 
property  of  the  crown,  and  shall  be  allowed  to  pass  alive  and 
healthy  and  well  fed  into,  and  remain  in,  the  waters   of  the 

13* 


298  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

enrich  the  river,  and  all  the  salmon,  when  manipulated, 
were  to  be  restored  to  it,  this  summary  confiscation  of  the 
nets  and  release  of  the  fish  seemed  to  be  hasty  action,  to 
say  the  least,  on  the  part  of  the  fishery  wardens,  who 

Mirimichi  or  its  branches,  when  and  after  they  shall  obtain 
the  sufficient  and  ordinary  growth  of  salmon  fry.  And  the  other 
half  .shall,  when  hatched  out,  be  your  property. 

4.  That  you  shall  be  entitled  to  obtain  from  this  department 
permission  to  procure  fish-spawn  for  the  sole  purpose  of  furnish- 
ing impregnated  eggs  for  hatching  in  the  said  establishment, 
such  permission  to  be  accorded  for  the  times,  places,  and  means 
of  so  taking  salmon  fixed  in  writing  by  the  inspector  of  fisheries 
for  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  and  subject  to  uses  only 
under  the  immediate  surveillance  of  a  fishery  officer  or  fishing 
warden,  who  shall  be  empowered  to  stop  all  proceedings  under 
the  said  written  permit  the  moment  he  finds  the  liberty  it  allows 
subject  to  abuse  or  injurious  to  the  salmon  fisheries,  or  any  of 
these  conditions  evaded  or  violated. 

5.  The  numbers  and  condition  of  salmon  caught  and  manipu- 
lated, which  are  to  be  returned  alive  and  uninjured  to  the  stream 
with  the  dates  of  capture,  manipulation,  and  release,  together 
with  the  numbers  of  eggs  obtained  therefrom,  and  actually  de- 
posited, and  also  the  numbers  vivified,  and  afterwards  hatched, 
and  the  numbers  of  young  fish  let  into  the  river,  to  be  attested 
on  oath,  by  one  or  more  of  the  persons  engaged  in  the  estab- 
lishment. 

6.  That  any  fishery  officer  or  warden  shall   at  any  and  all 
times  have  free  access  to  the  premises. 

7.  That  no  eggs  or  fry  shall  be  removed  from  the  ponds, 
boxes,  hatching-beds,  or  elsewhere,  without  the  knowledge  and 
consent  of  the  local  fishery  officer,  and  the  partition  or  releasing 
of  young  fish  to  fulfil  the  crown  share  shall  be  made  in  the  pres- 
ence of  and  certified  by  a  fishery  officer  authorized  thereto. 

8.  That  until  you  have  prepared  the  establishment  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  inspector  of  fisheries,  no  permit  shall  be  delivered 
to  you. 

9.  Any  violation  or  evasion  of  these  conditions  shall  forthwith 


APPENDIX    VI. 


299 


might,  without  injury,  have  left  things  in  statu  quo  for 
a  while,  until  the  course  of  events  decided  whether-  the 
fishing  was  authorized  or  not.  If  the  wardens  were  acting 
under  the  direction  of  the  Inspector  of  the  Province,  it 
makes  the  matter  all  the  \\  orse.  for  he  at  least  ought  to 
have  had  intelligence  enough  to  abstain  from  such  intem- 
perate haste. 

As  soon  as  the  first  net  was  forcibly  taken  by  the  war- 
dens, Mr.  Goodfellow,  still  relying  on  the  authority  con- 
veyed by  the  last  conversation  with  the  minister,  staked 
down  another  net,  and  continued  fishing.  This  was  im- 
mediately taken  up  and  confiscated  like  the  last.  When 
another  net  was  put  down  and  taken,  then  another  and  an- 
other. As  fast  as  a  net  was  put  down  it  was  taken  up, 
and  as  fast  as  it  was  taken  up  another  was  put  down,* 
and  so  it  continued,  each  net  going  the  way  of  its  prede- 

forfeit  the  permit,  and  put  an  end  to  the  privilege,  besides  ex- 
posing the  parties  to  penalties  provided  by  the  laws. 

The  foregoing  laws  it  has  been  found  advisable  to  stipulate  for 
the  security  of  the  public  and  the  satisfaction  of  the  department; 
but  the  minister  expresses   his    confidence   in   the   ability  and 
energy  of  the  parties  who  undertake  this  project,  and  he  will 
view  with  lively  expectation  and  assist  to  the  utmost  their  bona 
fide  exertions  towards  rendering  it  a  practical  success,  at  once 
remunerative  to  themselves  and  beneficial  to  the  fisheries. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

W.   F.  WHITCHER, 
For  the  Hon.  Minister  of  Marine  and  Fisheries. 

*  To  discontinue  fishing  would  have  been  fatal  to  the  under- 
taking. The  spawning  season  was  near,  and  the  best  runs  of 
fish  were  over,  and  it  was  evident  that  unless  the  parent  salmon 
were  caught  at  once  it  would  be  too  late.  Subsequent  facts  con- 
firmed this  view  of  the  matter;  for  after  the  date  (October  6) 
of  our  written  permit  from  the  inspector,  we  caught  only  twenty- 
eight  salmon  in  all. 


3<DO  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

cessor,  until  seven  or  eight  nets  had  found  their  way  to 
the  contraband  stores  of  the  wardens. 

At  length  the  written  instructions  of  the  Fisheries 
Department  were  received  by  Mr.  Goodfellow,  and  not 
long  after  I  arrived  at  Mirimichi.  The  department  in- 
structions made  the  fishing  conditional  upon  a  written 
permit  from  the  inspector  of  the  Provinces.  On  my  arrival, 
the  inspector  was  immediately  telegraphed  for.  The  com- 
munity was  by  this  time  worked  up  into  a  state  of  great 
excitement,  and  the  inspector  had  heard  only  the  warden's 
side  of  the  story.  But  upon  seeing  the  works  which  had 
been  constructed,  and  hearing  a  full  account  of  the  affair, 
and  of  what  was  contemplated,  he  fell  in  with  the  under- 
taking, and  gave  it  his  hearty  support.  He  also  gave  a 
written  permit,  drawn  up  in  the  most  liberal  terms,  for  the 
taking  of  three  hundred  salmon  from  the  river  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  establishment. 

After  receiving  this  permit,  no  pains  were  spared  to 
catch  as  many  salmon  as  possible  ;  but  the  good  runs  were 
over,  and  we  captured  but  twenty-eight  fish  between  this 
time  and  the  spawning  season,  which  began  in  one  pond 
the  1 5th  of  October.  We  took  on  this  and  the  two  fol- 
lowing days  226,500  eggs  from  twenty-eight  fish.  On  the 
20th  of  October  we  found,  to  our  surprise,  that  the  fish  we 
caught  that  day  in  the  river  had  already  spawned.  The 
writer  immediately  took  a  gang  of  men  and  a  forty-fathom 
sweep-seine,  and  swept  the  river  thoroughly  for  nine  miles 
above  our  nets,  though  the  floating  ice  had  begun  to  run. 
Many  salmon  were  caught,  but  all  had  spawned  except  two, 
one  of  which  had  been  injured  by  a  spear.  The  salmon  in 
the  pond  continued  to  hold  their  spawn  till  late  in  Novem- 
ber, though  most  of  them  had  been  found  ripe,  and  had 
been  stripped  by  the  third  day  of  that  month.  We  took 
in  all  443.900  eggs  from  forty-eight  salmon.  This  num- 
ber, reduced  by  removal  of  dead  eggs  and  accidents  to 


APPENDIX    VI.  3OI 

356,000,  was  equally  divided,  by  special  permit  from  the 
minister,  when  the  eye-spots  appeared,  and  one  half  were 
brought  to  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  at  Charlestown, 
N.  H.,  and  the  other  half  left  to  hatch  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Mirimichi  River. 

On  the  writer's  return  to  New  England,  a  very  pleasant 
day  was  passed  with  the  inspector  of  the  Provinces  at  St. 
John,  during  which  he  renewed  his  assurances  of  his  cor- 
dial support,  and  was  even  kind  enough  to  offer  capital  for 
investment  in  our   enterprise.      This,   however,   was  de- 
clined on  the  ground  that  the  assistance  was  not  needed, 
as  everything  was  paid  for ;  but  the  writer  has  regretted 
ever  since  that  the  offer  was  not  accepted.    The  next  time 
the  inspector  was  heard  from  was  on  the  occasion  of  his 
publishing  a  letter  in  a  St.  John  paper,  speaking  in  very 
detracting  terms  of  Mr.  Goodfellow  and  the  writer.     The 
ostensible  cause  was  some  very  inoffensive  rerriarks  made 
by  the  writer  at  a  meeting  of  the  Fisheries  Commissioners 
at  New  York.     The  real  cause  may  perhaps  be  found  to 
be  the  rejection  of  the  inspector's  offers  of  investment,  and 
the  opposition  of  Mr.  Goodfellow  to  the  government  party 
at  a  recent  important  election.     But  whatever  the  cause, 
from  that  time  the  salmon-breeding  establishment  on  the 
Mirimichi  and  its  owners  met  only  persecution  from  the 
inspector,  who,  in  language  more  becoming  a  rowdy  than 
a  government  officer,  wrote   most  abusive  letters  to  and 
about  the  owners  of  the  establishment.    He  made  a  threat, 
in  .words  more  forcible  than  elegant,  that  the  salmon  works 
at  Mirimichi  should  "rot  where  they  stood,"  and  he  has 
since  resolutely  and  persistently  acted  up  to  it. 

The  consequence  is  that  a  large*  and  well-appointed 
salmon-breeding  establishment  in  perfect  running  order, 
located  in  one  of  the  most  favorable  situations  on  the 
globe,  is  left  to  stand  idle  and  useless,  when  it  might  be 

*  Probably  the  largest  in  the  world. 


3O2  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

adding  to  the  world's  wealth  at  the  rate  of  millions  of 
salmon  a  year.  The  short-sighted  inspector,  sacrificing 
the  vast  public  good  that  could  come  from  it  to  his  private 
animosity,  like  the  dog  in  the  manger,  will  neither  do  any- 
thing himself,  nor  let  any  one  else  do  anything  with  it. 
The  good  it  might  do  and  the  credit  it  might  reflect  on 
his  administration  are  sacrificed  to  carry  out  his  childish 
threat ;  and  there  the  establishment  still  remains,  closed 
and  useless,  a  monument  of  the  inspector's  malevolence 
and  imbecility. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  United  States  Congress  has 
this  year  (1872)  made  an  appropriation  for  salmon-breeding 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  that  in  future  salmon  eggs  will 
probably  be  obtained  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States 
on  even  a  larger  scale  than  they  could  be  procured  on  the 
Mirimichi. 


APPENDIX  VII. 

EXPERIMENTS  WITH   TROUT  EGGS   AND  TROUT. 

I  WOULD  by  all  means  have  a  set  of  hatching  boxes 
devoted  to  experiments.  By  careful  and  systematic 
experiment  more  knowledge  and  experience  are  gathered 
than  in  any  other  way,  and  it  is  upon  this  that  sound 
progress  in  fish  culture  or  any  other  art  depends. 

The  experiment  boxes  need  not  be  large.  Boxes  vary- 
ing in  capacity  from  100  to  1,000  eggs  each  are  about  the 
right  thing.  They  can  be  separate  boxes  or  subdivisions 
of  the  regular  hatching  troughs  separated  by  screens  ;  but 
whatever  they  are  they  should  be  perfectly  isolated  from 
each  other,  for  where  this  precaution  has  been  neglected 
it  is  a  very  common  and  provoking  source  of  disappoint- 
ment to  have  the  eggs  of  different  experiments  wash  in 
together  and  become  indistinguishable.  This  is  just  as 
fatal,  of  course,  to  all  useful  results,  as  if  the  eggs  had 
been  destroyed. 

The  separate  subdivisions  should  be  distinctly  desig- 
nated, and  full  notes  of  the  experiment  carefully  taken 
down  in  a  note-book.  In  brief,  the  experiment,  to  be 
valuable,  should  be  exact,  systematic,  and  full  in  recorded 
detail,  and  the  experiment  boxes  should  be  prepared  to 
this  end. 

Below  will  be  found  some  of  the  experiments  in  trout 
culture  which  most  readily  suggest  themselves. 


304  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

IMPREGNATING  EGGS. 
Dry  Method* 

1.  Take  ripe  eggs  with  little  milt  and  note  the  percent- 
age of  impregnation. 

2.  Take  ripe  eggs  with  abundant  milt  and  note  as  before. 

3.  Try  immature  eggs  with  good  and  sufficient  milt. 

4.  Try  ripe  eggs  with  poor  milt. 

5.  After  mixing  milt  and  eggs,  add  water  at  36°,  at  45°, 
at  60°,  and  compare  results. 

6.  Use  milt  that  has  been  taken  in  a  dry  phial  and  corked 
up  24  hours,  48  hours,  96  hours,  and  compare  results. 

7.  Use  milt  that  has  been  bottled  up  and  sent  by  mail 
100  miles,  500  miles,  1,000  miles. 

8.  Use  milt  that  has  been  forced  f  by  putting  male  in 
warm  water,  and  note  the  degree  of  impregnation. 

9.  Use  milt  that  has  been  frozen. 

10-12.    Repeat  experiments  6,  7,  9,  using  eggs  instead 
of  milt. 

13.  Put  ripe  eggs  with  milt  that  has  been  exposed  to 
the  air  5  minutes,  20  minutes,  30  minutes. 

14.  Put  good  milt  with  eggs  that  have  been  exposed  to 
the  air  5  minutes,  20  minutes,  30  minutes. 

15.  Use  ripe  eggs  with  milt  that  has  been  diluted  with 
water  2  minutes,  5  minutes,  20  minutes. 

16.  Use  good  milt  with  eggs  that  have  been  kept  in 
water  2  minutes,  5  minutes,  20  minutes,  30  minutes. 

17.  Compare   the  percentage  of  impregnation  of  eggs 
taken  in  Ainswortlrs  races  and  Collins's  roller  box  with 
those  taken  by  manual  pressure. 

Experiments  in  general  with  Eggs. 

18.  Pack  eggs  in  wet  moss  (Sphagnum]  as  soon  as  taken, 
and  examine  when  nearly  ready  to  hatch,  and  note  the 
mortality. 

*  See  p.  92.  t  See  p.  103,  note. 


APPENDIX    VII.  305 

19.  Pack  eggs  in  moss  at  the  first  appearance  of  the  eye- 
spots,  examine  and  note  as  before. 

20.  Place  eggs,  as  soon  as  taken,  on  ice,  keep  on  ice, 
and  see  how  long  they  will  be  hatching. 

21.  Freeze  eggs  solid,  in  water,  at  different  stages  of 
development,  and  note  the  result. 

22.  Freeze  as  before  in  the  air. 

23.  Place   a  few   eggs   on   a   copper-wire   screen,  and 
note  the  discoloration  and  absorption  of  copper. 

24.  Allow  a  few  eggs,  after  the  eye-spots  appear,  to  re- 
main considerably  covered  with   sediment,  and  note  the 
deformity  of  the  embryo  when  hatched. 

25.  Subject  eggs  of  different  ages  to  high  temperatures 
of  water,  and  note  what  degree  of  heat  they  will  live 
through. 

Experiments  with  A  levins  and  Voting  Fry. 

26.  See  how  long  five  alevins  will  live  in  a  gill  of  water 
at  36°,  at  42°,  at  50°,  at  60°,  at  70°. 

27.  Freeze  alevins  solid,  thaw  out,  and  return  to  the 
water  in  hatching  box,  and  watch  for  a  month.     Mem.  : 
Take  care,  during  the  freezing,  not  to  disturb  the  fish,  as  it 
will  tear  itself  against  the  forming  ice,  and  die  from  the  ef- 
fect of  the  laceration.     The  best  way  to  freeze  eggs  or 
young  fish  is  to  take  a  dry  glass  tumbler  which  has  been 
exposed  to  a  great  degree  of  cold,  and  pour  into  it  the 
specimens  to  be  experimented  with,  together  with  about  a 
spoonful  of  water.     The  water,  with  the  specimens,  will 
:mmediately  freeze  solid. 

28.  Expose  alevins  to  a  rising  temperature,  and  note 
what  degree  of  heat  they  will  survive. 

Experiments  with   Young  Fry. 

29-31.      Repeat  with  trout  fry  the  experiments  with 
alevins  marked  26,  27,  and  28. 

T 


3O6  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

32.  Keep  very  young  trout  fry  in  pure  filtered  spring 
water,  and  note  how  long  they  remain  healthy  without  the 
addition  of  earth. 

33.  After  the  fish  in  the  last  experiment  begin  to  sicken, 
apply  earth  plentifully,  and  note  the  improvement. 

34.  Keep  100  young  fry  in  a  small  box,  and  100  in  a 
pond,  for  six  months  ;  compare  the  mortality  and  growth. 

35.  Feed  two  similar  lots  of  young  fry,  one  wholly  on 
curd,  the  other  wholly  on  liver,  and  compare  results. 

36.  Feed  young  trout  fry  plentifully  on  the  young  of 
other  fish,  as  suckers,  perch,  and  shiners,  and  note  the 
result. 

37.  Take  young  trout  fry  that  are  attacked  by  animal 
parasites,  and  give   them   a   salt  bath,  as  described   on 
page  258,  and  note  the  result. 

38.  Observe  the  effect  of  the  parasites  on  young  fry  not 
subjected  to  the  salt  bath. 

Experiments  with  Large  Trout. 

39.  Count  the  number  of  respirations  of  large  trout  at  a 
temperature  of  36°,  45°,  70°,  and  80°,  and  compare  the 
results. 

40.  Freeze  large  trout  carefully,  but  stop  the  freezing 
before  the  body  becomes  stiff.     Thaw  out  gradually,  and 
note  the  result. 

41.  Let  a  large  trout  become  motionless  from  suffoca- 
tion in  still  water,  then  try  the  effect  of  vigorous  aeration 
of  the  water  in  restoring  him. 

42.  Ring  a  bell  and  make  loud  noises  near  trout  where 
you  can  see  them  and  they  cannot  see  you,  and  note 
whether  they  appear  to  hear  the  sounds. 

43.  Feed  one  lot  of  trout  wholly  on  minnows  for  three 
months,  and  a  similar  lot  on  worms,  a  third  lot  on  meat, 
a  fourth  lot  on  all  three,  and  compare  results. 

44.  Subject  a  fish  attacked  by  fungus  to  the  salt  bath 

1  on  page  258,  and  note  the  result. 


APPENDIX   VII.  307 

45.  Cross  the  various  species  of  the  Salmo  family  with 
each  other,  and  note  and  publish  the  results. 

46.  Whoever  has   the  opportunity,  and  sufficient  pa- 
tience, will  render  a  great  service  to  the  fish-cultivating 
world  by  fully  testing  the  experiment  of  breeding  in  and 
in  with  peculiar  varieties  of  trout,  as  the  Chinese  do  with 
gold  fish,  and  publishing  the  results. 


APPENDIX   VIII. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  SALMO 
(COREGONUS  PAL^A,   Cuv.)   EGG.* 

"\  1  7E  shall  try  to  give  here  a  short  summary  of  the  state 
»  V     of  the  embryo  at  all  periods  of  its  life,  indicating  at 
which  period  the  organs  begin  to  form,  and  under  what 
form  they  first  appear. 

At  the  time  of  spawning,  the  egg  is  composed  of  the 
yolk,  of  little  drops  of  oil  spread  over  the  surface  of  the 
yolk,  and  forming  a  kind  of  disk  ;  of  the  germinal  vesicle 
and  spots,  situated  in  the  middle  of  this  disk ;  and,  lastly, 
of  the  yolk  and  shell  membranes  which  envelop  the  egg, 
without  any  intermediate  space  between  them.  Four  hours 
after  the  spawning  the  shell  membrane  is  detached  from 
the  yolk  membrane,  in  consequence  of  the  endosmotic 
penetration  of  the  water  through  the  pores  of  the  first ;  it 
becomes  inflated,  and  the  yolk  floats  freely  in  its  cavity. 
Twelve  hours  after  the  spawning  the  germ  begins  to  rise 
from  the  middle  of  the  oily  disk  under  the  form  of  a  little 
circular  swelling.  Sixteen  hours  after  spawning  the  germ 
is  seen  in  the  form  of  a  clear,  transparent  vessel  above  the 
oleaginous  disk.  The  cells  of  which  it  is  composed  are 
little  delicate  transparent  vessels,  without  any  traces  of  a 
nucleus.  Twenty  hours  after  spawning  the  germ  occupies 
all  the  extent  of  the  disk,  and  the  furrowing  begins.  A 
large  shallow  furrow  is  first  perceived,  which  extends  in  a 
circular  direction,  and  affects  nothing  but  the  germ.  Dur- 

*  Translated  from  the  French  of  Vogt's  Embryologie  des  Sal- 
mones,  Chap.  XIV.,  by  F.  W.  WEBBER. 


APPENDIX   VIII.  309 

ing  the  second  and  third  days  the  furrows  develop.  There 
exists  ordinarily,  as  soon  as  the  beginning  of  the  second 
day,  two  furrows  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  At  the  end  of 
the  second  day  the  mulberry  form  has  reached  its  devel- 
opment. On  the  third  day  it  is  insensibly  effaced,  and  the 
germ  becomes  smooth  ;  but  it  is,  however,  opaque,  ow- 
ing to  the  cells  accumulated  in  its  interior.  On  the  fourth 
day  the  embryonic  germ  represents  a  hemisphere  of  granu- 
lated appearance,  but  smooth  on  the  exterior,  reposing  on 
the  oily  disk.  All  the  cells  are  perfectly  developed,  and 
all  have  nuclei.  Those  of  the  outer  stratum  are  even  pro- 
vided with  nucleated  cells.  From  the  sixth  to  the  ninth 
day  the  epidermoidal  stratum  detaches  itself  insensibly 
from  the  other  embryonic  cells,  overruns  the  yolk,  and  the 
embryo  separates  more  and  more  from  the  yolk  vessel. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  period  the  germ  represents  a 
large  sunken  mass,  which  hardly  passes  the  borders  of 
the  oily  disk.  Finally,  there  is  only  a  little  space  in  the 
yolk  free,  the  yolk  cavity  ;  all  the  rest  is  filled  up  with 
the  epidermoidal  layer.  The  embryo  is  diametrically  op- 
posite to  the  yolk  vesicle,  and  it  is  in  correspondence  with 
its  length  that  the  cells  are  the  most  heaped  up  in  the 
place  where  the  primitive  bands  form.  On  the  tenth  day 
the  dorsal  furrow  appears  and  takes  the  form  of  a  large 
and  tolerably  deep  fissure,  but  ending  indistinctly  in  front. 
The  cephalic  extremity  of  the  embryo  is  large,  square, 
and  truncated.  The  caudal  extremity  is  lost  in  a  vague 
way  in  the  keel  surrounding  the  yolk  cavity,  which  grows 
continually  narrower.  The  dorsal  part  of  the  embryo  is 
more  narrow  than  the  two  extremities.  It  is,  besides, 
curled  in  a  uniform  manner  around  the  yolk,  and  the  dor- 
sal furrow  is  wide  open  ;  the  germ  and  the  yolk  vesicle  are 
diametrically  opposite.  On  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  day 
the  dorsal  furrow  ends  in  front,  and  shows  the  first  traces 
of  the  enlargements  which  correspond  to  the  three  cere- 


310  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

bral  divisions.  The  space  corresponding  to  the  mesen- 
cephalon  is  the  largest,  and  in  profile  it  is  easily  discerned 
by  its  enlargement,  which  begins  near  the  ocular  lobes. 
The  dorsal  furrow  is  closed  in  tube  form  on  the  back. 
The  vertebral  divisions  begin  to  show,  but  almost  exclu- 
sively upon  the  front  turned  against  the  yolk.  The  part 
of  the  dorsal  furrow  which  is  still  open  is  very  narrow. 
The  cells  of  the  epidermoidal  stratum  have  lost  their  nu- 
cleoli  and  represent  a  tessellated  epethelium.  At  the  place 
where  the  dorsal  cord  shows,  cells  are  to  be  seen,  rilled 
with  an  opaque  and  granulated  alimentary  substance. 
From  the  thirteenth  to  the  sixteenth  day  the  three  cere- 
bral divisions  are  characterized  in  the  most  distinct  man- 
ner. The  ocular  lobes  of  the  mesencephalon  become  more 
and  more  distinct  and  completely  enclosed  on  the  side  of 
the  mesencephalon  as  in  a  vault.  The  dorsal  cord  ap- 
pears under  the  form  of  a  simple  string,  solid  and  trans- 
parent, in  the  middle  of  the  embryo.  The  vertebral  divis- 
ions are  perfectly  distinct.  The  caudal  extremity  of  the 
embryo  is  circumscribed  on  the  side  of  the  yolk.  The 
yolk  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  epidermoidal  stratum. 
The  yolk  cavity  has  disappeared.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  day  the  beginning  of  the  crystalline  coating 
can  be  remarked  in  the  eye.  The  rudiment  of  the  ear  ap- 
pears at  the  same  time  under  the  form  of  an  elliptical 
vesicle,  with  a  clearer  space  in  the  centre  ;  it  is  situated 
a  little  in  front  of  the  nuchal  bow.  This,  as  well  as  the 
cephalic  bow  and  the  curvature  of  the  trunk,  is  well  marked 
out.  The  yolk  vesicle,  on  the  contrary,  is  very  much  re- 
duced. The  epencephalon  shows  a  few  swellings  analo- 
gous to  the  "ganglions persistans  des  Trigles" 

From  the  seventeenth  to  the  twentieth  day  the  tail  be- 
gins to  show  itself,  and  the  embryo  uses  it  to  give  vigor- 
ous shakes  by  striking  with  it  laterally.  The  cephalic  bow 
becomes  level.  The  crystalline  coating  develops  and  har- 


APPENDIX    VIII.  311 

dens.  The  choroid  cleft  is  just  formed.  The  prosenceph- 
alon,  with  its  prolongation  towards  the  extremity,  of  the 
snout ;  the  mesencephalon,  which  is  hollowed  completely 
into  the  form  of  a  cavity ;  and  the  epencephalon,  with  the 
cerebellum,  which  are  beginning  to  form,  — are  now  very 
easily  distinguished.  In  front  of  the  extremity  of  the  cord, 
which  is  still  homogeneous,  is  accumulated  at  the  base  of 
the  brain  the  thick  blastema  of  the  basis  of  the  cranium. 
Then  under  the  dorsal  cord,  between  it  and  the  yolk,  forms 
a  thick  layer  of  cells  larger  than  the  properly  called  em- 
bryonic cells,  and  provided  with  opaque  nuclei,  the  layer 
of  intestinal  cells  representing  the  mucous  leaflet.  This 
layer  is  divided  into  two  rows,  the  lower  one  designed  to 
form  the  intestine,  the  upper  designed  for  the  corpus 
Wolfianum.  The  intestine  begins  to  be  transformed  into 
a  tube  behind  and  in  front,  in  proportion  as  the  embryo 
disengages  itself  more  and  more  from  the  yolk.  An 
enlargement  (a  posterior  allantois)  shows  itself  at  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  secretory  canal  of  the  corpus  Wolfianum. 
The  heart  forms  in  a  swelling  of  the  embryonic  mass  on 
the  side  of  tTie  yolk,  in  the  middle  of  the  space  between 
the  ear  and  the  eye.  At  first  solid,  and  composed  of 
simple  embryonic  cells,  it  is  soon  transformed  into  a  cav- 
ity, in  which  globules  of  blood  can  be  seen  to  rise  and 
fall  in  cadence,  conforming  to  the  repeated  contractions 
of  this  organ.  The  heart  is  at  a  right  angle  with  the  axis 
of  the  body,  and  reposes  vertically  upon  the  yolk,  the 
middle  of  which  it  occupies.  Behind  the  heart  can  be  re- 
marked a  little  angular  protuberance,  the  first  vestige  of 
the  pectoral  fin.  The  blood-producing  layer  is  seen  to 
appear  upon  the  yolk  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  heart, 
giving  to  the  yolk  a  spotted  appearance.  The  first  traces 
of  the  black  pigment  show  in  the  choroid  ;  the  cells  of 
brown  pigment  are  created  at  the  same  time  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  eye.  The  vertebral  divisions  are  very  distinct. 


312  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

The  tail  grows  larger.  The  first  traces  of  the  odd  fin  are 
formed  by  the  epidermoidal  layer  upon  the  circumference 
of  the  embryo  ;  the  yolk  vesicle  disappears. 

From  the  twenty-third  to  the  twenty-seventh  day  the 
first  rudiments  of  the  nasal  cavities  are  seen  to  appear  on 
the  lower  front  of  the  head.  The  prolongation  of  the  pro- 
sencephalon,  forming  the  olfactory  nerve,  stretches  so  as 
to  reach  the  nasal  cavities.  The  head  rises,  disengages 
itself  from  the  yolk  in  consequence  of  the  strengthening 
of  the  nuchal  bow.  The  yolk  begins  to  separate  from  the 
head,  and  the  separation  of  the  belly  follows  at  the  same 
time  that  an  uneven  ventral  fin  shows,  formed  from  the 
epidermoidal  layer.  The  choroid  surrounds  nearly  all  the 
bulb  of  the  eye  ;  the  coloboma  of  the  iris  appears  under 
the  form  of  a  light  cleft.  The  thick  blastema  of  the  base 
of  the  cranium  is  very  distinct.  In  the  dorsal  cord  the 
little  cells  develop  in  the  form  of  little  isolated  vesicles, 
which  increase  and  occupy  all  the  cord  in  front  and  be- 
hind. The  blood-producing  layer  extends  over  the  yolk. 
The  choroid  can  be  recognized  by  the  naked  eye  in  con- 
sequence of  the  accumulation  of  pigment,  and  the  eyes 
can  be  distinguished  through  the  shell  membrane  under 
the  form  of  two  black  points.  The  intestine  and  the 
urethra  are  transformed  into  complete  tubes,  not  showing 
any  trace  of  cellular  structure.  The  anus  is  still  closed. 

From  the  twenty-seventh  to  the  thirtieth  day  the  pineal 
gland  appears  in  the  form  of  a  little  globulous  accumula- 
tion of  cells  in  the  semicircular  cavity  situated  behind 
the  prosencephalon.  The  interior  formations  of  the  me- 
sencephalon  begin  to  show.  The  thick  blastema  of  the 
base  of  the  cranium  contracts  very  distinctly  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  hypophysis  The  ear  is  much  nearer  to 
the  eye  than  formerly.  The  first  traces  of  circulation  ap- 
pear in  the  beginning,  under  the  form  of  two  similar  cur- 
rents, one  of  which  is  destined  for  the  head  and  the  other 


APPENDIX   VIII.  313 

for  the  body.  These  currents  come  out  from  the  heart  by 
the  aorta  and  the  carotid  arteries,  and  return  to  the  heart 
by  the  anterior  and  posterior  yolk  veins.  The  two  ante- 
rior yolk  veins  disappear  first,  and  after  them  the  left  pos- 
terior vein.  The  hematogenous  layer  has  completely 
overrun  the  yolk,  and  there  exist  no  capillary  ramifications 
except  upon  the  latter.  The  pectoral  fin,-  which  at  first 
was  pendent,  rises,  and  keeps  up  a  continual  motion.  The 
formation  of  cells  is  complete  in  the  dorsal  cord,  and  the 
intercellular  substance  has  almost  entirely  disappeared. 
The  liver  begins  to  form,  its  communication  with  the  in- 
testine is  very  distinct,  and  capillary  networks  form  in 
its  interior  towards  the  end  of  this  period.  The  posterior 
yolk  vein  stretches  along  the  lower  front  of  the  intestine, 
and  bends  back  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  liver.  The 
odd  fin  which  surrounds  the  body  grows  larger.  The  first 
traces  of  the  otoliths  appear  in  the  ears.  The  different 
divisions  of  the  heart  are  visible  externally,  and  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  opercle  become  more  and  more  distinct. 

From  the  thirty-first  to  the  fortieth  day  the  nose  begins 
to  show  very  distinct  outlines.  The  buccal  cavity  forms, 
and  on  both  sides  can  be  seen  the  first  rudiments  of  the 
upper  jaw,  under  the  form  of  two  prolongations.  The 
choroidal  fissure  closes,  and  the  development  of  black  pig- 
ment in  the  eyes  prevents  any  further  study  of  them.  The 
branchial  fissures  appear  one  after  the  other,  and  each 
of  the  branchial  arches  receives  a  vascular  arch.  At  the 
end  of  this  period  there  are  five  arches,  the  first  of  which 
is  the  hyoidal  arch.  The  semicircular  grooves  begin  to 
form  in  the  ears.  The  cells  of  the  muscles  are  arranged 
in  threads.  The  cells  of  black  pigment  in  the  epidennoidal 
layer  of  the  back  are  seen  to  appear.  The  whole  circula- 
tion undergoes  important  modifications  while  penetrating 
into  the  tail,  where  it  gives  birth  to  a  cardinal  vein.  The 
circulation  of  the  head  becomes  symmetrical,  the  right 


3  14  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

carotid  being  more  active  than  the  left,  and  the  left  jugu- 
lar more  active  than  the  right.  The  aortic  arch  at  the 
right  is  also  more  powerful.  Intestinal  arteries  form.  The 
liver  develops  more  and  more  to  the  detriment  of  the  yolk 
circulation.  The  little  drops  of  oil  unite  in  one  great  drop. 
The  buccal  intestine  enters  into  communication  with  the 
branchial  cavity. 

From  the  forty-first  to  the  sixtieth  day  the  embryo  be- 
comes ready  to  hatch.  The  nose  draws  insensibly  near 
the  extremity  of  the  head.  The  cartilaginous  bases  of 
the  head  form  from  the  thick  blastema  of  the  base  of  the 
cranium.  In  the  eye  the  cornea  and  the  sclerotic  separate 
from  the  tissues  of  the  choroid.  The  ear  approaches  the 
eye.  The  interior  parts  of  the  eye  completely  develop. 
The  heart  takes  a  horizontal  position  in  consequence  of 
the  proximity  of  the  yolk  and  the  body,  —  a  proximity 
which  itself  depends  upon  the  disappearance  of  the  peri- 
cardial  sac  and  the  abdominal  sac  of  the  epidermoidal 
membrane.  The  yolk  disappears  from  sight.  Peristaltic 
motions  and  very  decided  movements  of  mastication  can 
be  perceived  in  the  intestine.  The  mouth,  situated  be- 
tween the  eyes,  is  transversal.  The  embryonic  odd  fin 
shows  cavities  in  the  places  where  it  is  designed  to  be 
absorbed.  The  yolk  circulation  disappears,  that  of  the 
liver  or  the  circulation  of  the  portal  system  is  entirely 
established.  The  sixth  branchial  arch,  or  the  pharyngian 
arch,  receives  a  vascular  arch.  The  hyoidian  arch  has 
disappeared.  The  head  contracts  as  the  formation  of  the 
cartilages  progresses.  The  vertebrae  become  cartilaginous. 
The  muscular  fibres  take  transverse  striae. 

Immediately  after  the  spawning  the  essential  modifica- 
tions are  as  follows  :  The  yolk  is  little  by  little  completely 
absorbed.  The  oil  drop  lasts  the  longest,  but  it  also  finally 
disappears.  The  yolk  circulation  passes  entirely  to  the 
liver,  and  there  completes  the  circulation  of  the  portal 


APPENDIX   VIII.  315 

system.  The  opercular  parts  develop  backwards,  the 
lower  jaw  forwards,  without,  however,  reaching  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  snout.  The  lower  extremity  of  the  dorsal 
cord  rises.  The  odd  fins  take  their  shape  definitely  and 
receive  their  rays.  The  pectoral  fins  are  very  large  in 
proportion.  The  fringes  of  the  capillary  arteries  begin  to 
develop  upon  the  branchial  arches.  The  metallic  pigment 
of  the  choroid  appears.  The  swimming  bladder  unfolds. 
The  cartilaginous  skeleton  begins  to  turn  to  bone,  and  the 
rudiments  of  the  teeth  appear  in  the  mouth. 


APPENDIX    IX. 

PERCH   HATCHING. 

I  THINK  that  the  most  wholesome  food  for  very 
young  trout  fry  will  be  found  to  be  the  still  smaller 
and  younger  fry  of  spring-spawning  fish,  and  I  venture  to 
predict  that  the  time  will  come  when  this  natural  food  will 
be  generally  used  when  practicable.  The  Yellow  Perch 
(Percaflavescens)^  which  spawns  in  April,  is  an  admirable 
fish  for  the  purpose,  as  it  is  very  abundant,  and  its  eggs 
are  numerous,  easily  obtained,  and  very  easy  to  impreg- 
nate and  hatch.  With  this  end  in  view,  the  following  notes 
are  given  in  regard  to  hatching  perch  eggs. 

It  is  the  easiest  and  simplest  thing  in  the  world  to 
manipulate  perch  and  take  their  eggs  artificially,  and  hatch 
them.  I  have  taken  millions  in  that  way,  and  have  hatched 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  them.  Indeed,  after  my  first 
experience,  during  the  year  1868,  I  found  it  vastly  easier, 
and  had  better  luck,  than  with  the  salmon  family. 

It  is  not  only  very  easy  to  take  perch  eggs  by  hand, 
but  you  can  generally  impregnate  the  whole  of  them,  or 
very  nearly  the  whole  of  them.  If  any  one  would  like  to 
see  how  easy  it  is,  let  him  take  a  good-sized  milk-pnn, 
nearly  full  of  water,  and  having  found  a  ripe  piir  of  golden 
perch,  — this  is  easy  enough,  I  have  found  hundreds  just 
ripe,  —  let  him  impregnate  the  water  well  with  the  milt  of 
the  male,  and  proceed  as  follows  with  the  female  :  — 

Hold  the  fish  just  over  the  edge  of  the  pan,  so  as  to  let 
the  exterior  end  of  the  roe  rest,  as  it  comes  out,  on  the 
further  edge  of  the  pan.  It  will  stick  in  a  moment.  Then 


APPENDIX    IX.  317 

draw  the  fish  slowly  over  the  pan  to  the  opposite  edge, 
letting  the  roe  fall  in  the  water,  and  fasten  the  other  end 
of  it,  as  before,  to  that  edge  of  the  pan.  You  will  then 
have  the  roe  suspended  in  the  water  in  such  a  way  that  it 
cannot  get  together  and  stick,  and  suffocate  itself,  as  it 
surely  would  if  it  had  a  chance.  Shake  the  pan  a  little. 
In  an  hour  rinse  the  eggs,  change  the  water  twice  a  day, 
and  in  twenty  days,  if  the  water  is  not  too  cold,  your  eggs 
will  hatch.  60  degrees  Fahrenheit  is  a  very  good  tem- 
perature to  hatch  them  in,  but  they  will  stand  a  tempera- 
ture as  high  as  85  degrees,  at  which  point  their  develop- 
ment is  very  rapid.  At  95  degrees  they  die.  If  you  put 
a  couple  of  large  stones  in  the  pan,  to  rest  the  ends  of 
the  roe  on,  it  is  better  than  to  stick  them  to  the  edge  of 
the  pan. 

The  development  of  the  perch  embryo  is  exceedingly 
interesting.  A  very  singular  feature  of  it  is  the  movement 
of  the  embryo  in  the  egg,  which  begins  almost  as  soon  as 
the  form  of  the  fish  is  visible.  The  little  creature  jumps 
from  one  wall  of  the  egg  to  the  other,  with  a  quick  spas- 
modic movement,  like  that  observed  in  the  animalculae  in 
a  drop  of  water  under  a  very  high  magnifying  power. 
This  motion  is  as  regular,  when  the  eggs  are  not  dis- 
turbed, as  the  ticking  of  a  watch,  and  never  ceases,  day 
or  night,  except  when  the  eggs  are  shaken,  when,  by  an 
instinctive  consent,  every  fish  stops  as  if  by  magic.  In  a 
second  or  two  the  movement  begins  again. 

The  viscous  matter  which  envelops  the  eggs  and  holds 
them  together  is  finally  wholly  absorbed,  and  the  eggs  fall 
apart.  They  now  consist  of  merely  a  frail  shell,  contain- 
ing the  embryo.  This  shell  easily  breaks,  and  the  young 
perch  is  set  free.  He  is  very  small,  not  more  than  half  as 
large  as  a  black  bass  just  hatched,  or  one  fourth  as  large 
as  a  whitefish  an  hour  old. 

The  roe  of  the  yellow  perch  comes  in  folds  from  the 


318  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

fish,  in  the  form  of  a  long,  narrow,  adhesive  ribbon,  with 
the  appearance  of  having  been  packed  very  compactly. 
In  a  few  moments  it  swells  to  such  a  size  that  you  could 
not  get  more  than  one  third  of  it  into  the  fish  again. 

After  the  expansion  is  completed,  an  average  roe  of  a 
six-ounce  Missisquoi  River  perch  will  measure  about  36 
inches  in  length  by  about  3  inches  in  width,  or  108  super- 
ficial inches.  I  estimate  that  there  are  about  64  eggs  to 
the  square  inch,  which  would  give  6,912  eggs  to  the  roe. 
I  do  not  claim  any  exactness  in  this  estimate,  but  I  think 
it  approximates  the  truth. 

There  is  one  more  feature  about  the  spawn  in  question 
which  should  be  noted.  After  a  little  while  it  loses  its 
tendency  to  stick  to  foreign  substances,  although  it  still 
adheres  together,  and  it  can  be  taken  up  in  the  hand  and 
carried  about,  and  even  handled  quite  roughly,  without 
damaging  the  eggs. 


APPENDIX    X. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURISTS' 
ASSOCIATION. 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  December  20,  1870. 

A  MEETING  of  practical  fish  culturists  was  held  in 
this  city  to-day,  in  compliance  with  a  call,  issued 
November  i,  by  W.  Clift,  A.  S.  Collins,  J.  H.  Slack,  F. 
Mather,  and  L.  Stone. 

The  place  of  meeting  was  subsequently  changed  to 
the  rooms  of  the  New  York  Poultry  Society,  to  which  so- 
ciety the  delegates  are  much  indebted,  both  for  the  use  of 
the  rooms  and  for  various  other  courtesies  extended  to 
them  during  the  day. 

The  delegates  having  assembled,  a  temporary  organiza- 
tion was  formed,  with  Rev.  W.  Clift  as  chairman  and  Mr. 
L.  Stone  as  secretary.  It  was  then  unanimously  resolved 
to  form  a  permanent  organization  of  fish  culturists,  and 
Dr.  Edmonds  and  Mr.  Stone  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  draft  a  constitution  for  such  an  organization,  to  report 
when  ready.  On  the  presentation  of  their  report,  the  fol- 
lowing constitution  was  adopted,  namely :  — 

CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE  I. 

Name  and  Objects.  —  The  name  of  this  Society  shall  be  "  The 
American  Fish  Culturists'  Association."  Its  objects  shall  be  to 
promote  the  cause  of  fish  culture ;  to  gather  and  diffuse  infor- 
mation bearing  upon  its  practical  success;  the  interchange  of 
friendly  feeling  and  intercourse  among  the  members  of  the  asso- 
ciation ;  the  uniting  and  encouraging  of  the  individual  interests 
of  fish  culturists. 


32O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Members.  —  All  fish  culturists  shall,  upon  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
the  society  and  a  payment  of  three  dollars,  be  considered  mem- 
bers of  the  association,  after  signing  the  constitution.  The  com- 
missioners of  the  various  States  shall  be  honorary  members  of 
the  association,  ex  officio. 

ARTICLE  III. 

Officers.  —  The  officers  of  the  association  shall  be  a  president, 
a  secretary,  and  a  treasurer,  and  shall  be  elected  annually  by  a 
majority  vote.  Vacancies  occuring  during  the  year  may  be  filled 
by  the  president 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Meetings.  —  The  regular  meetings  of  the  association  shall  be 
held  once  a  year,  the  time  and  place  being  decided  upon  at  the 
previous  meeting. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Changing  the  Constitution.  —  The  constitution  of  the  society 
may  be  amended,  altered,  or  repealed  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the 
members  present  at  any  regular  meeting. 

The  constitution  having  been  adopted,  the  following 
officers  were  chosen  for  the  ensuing  year  :  W.  Clift,  Mystic 
Bridge,  Conn.,  President ;  L.  Stone.  Charlestown,  N.  H., 
Secretary;  B.  F.  Bowles,  Springfield,  Mass.,  Treasurer. 

It  was  then  resolved  that  an  effort  be  made  to  secure  an 
exhibition  of  live"  fish  at  the  next  meeting,  and  that  the 
following  gentlemen  be  requested  to  prepare  papers,  to  be 
read  at  the  next  meeting,  on  the  subjects  annexed  to  their 
names  :  — 

A.  S.  Collins,  on  "Spawning  Races  and  the  Impregna- 
tion of  Eggs." 

J.  H.  Slack, 

W.  Clift,  on  "The  Culture  of  Shad." 
Dr.  Edmonds,  on  "  The  Introduction  of  Salmon  into 
American  Rivers." 

B.  F.  Bowles,  on  "  Land-locked  Salmon." 


APPENDIX    X.  321 

Dr.  Huntington,  on  "  Fish  in  the  North  Woods  of  New 
York. 

L.  Stone,  on  "  The  Culture  of  Trout." 

It  was  decided  to  hold  the  next  meeting  and  exhibition 
in  connection  with  the  New  York  Poultry  Show  next  year. 
It  was  voted  to  send  a  report  of  the  meeting  for  publica- 
tion to  the  New  York  Citizen  and  Round  Table,  the  New 
York  Tribune,  the  Springfield  Republican,  the  New  York 
Poultry  Bulletin,  and  other  papers  at  discretion  ;  and  the 
secretary  was  instructed  to  mail  the  published  reports  of 
the  meeting  to  fish  culturists  generally. 

LIVINGSTON  STONE, 

Secy  Fish  Cult.  Ass'n.    } 


APPENDIX    XI. 
SPECIMENS  OF  SALMONID^E  FOR  PROF.  AGASSIZ. 

COLD  SPRING  TROUT  PONDS, 
CHARLESTOWN,  N.  H.,  January  24,  1871. 

To  FISHERMEN  AND  SPORTSMEN. 

/^ENTLEMEN  :  Professor  Agassiz  is  preparing  an 
^-*  illustrated  work  of  the  American  Salmonidae,  includ- 
ing all  the  trout  and  salmon,  as  well  as  whitefish,  of  this 
country.  To  enable  him  to  make  this  work  complete,  lie 
requires  live  specimens  of  every  variety  of  trout,  salmon, 
and  whitefish  found  on  this  continent.  The  American 
Fish  Culturists'  Association  are  endeavoring  to  help  him 
in  this  great  undertaking,  and  would  beg  you  to  send  to 
Professor  Agassiz,*  for  his  investigation,  any  specimens 
of  these  varieties  that  may  come  within  your  reach, — 
alive,  if  possible;  if  not,  dead,  —  and  especially  to  forward 
to  him  any  new  or  rare  specimens  that  you  may  discover. 
Samples  of  the  winninish,  land-locked  salmon,  and  the 
rarer  kinds  of  the  lake  trout  and  sea  trout,  are  particu- 
larly requested.  Further  appeal  for  your  co-operation 
seems  unnecessary,  as  you  cannot  but  feel  that  no  Amer- 
ican can  do  too  much  for  Professor  Agassiz.  All  speci- 
mens should  be  directed  to  Professor  Agassiz,  Museum 

*  If  the  specimens  cannot  be  kept  alive,  and  are  small,  put 
them  just  as  they  are  into  a  bottle  of  alcohol  and  water,  and 
send  them.  If  the  specimens  are  large,  treat  them  thoroughly 
with  a  wash  of  carbolic  acid,  and  express  them  at  once  to  the 
Museum,  or  skin  them,  without  severing  the  head  or  tail,  and 
send  the  skin,  head,  and  tail  in  the  same  way,  or  in  alcohol. 


APPENDIX   XI.  323 

of  Comparative  Zoology,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  should  be 
labelled  with  the  name  in  full  of  the  exact  locality  from 
which  they  are  taken. 

Yours  very  truly, 

LIVINGSTON   STONE, 

Sec'y  A.  F.  C.  A. 


The  following  letter  is  added,  at  Professor  Agassiz's 
suggestion  :  — 

CAMBRIDGE,  January  20,  1871. 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
offices  in  helping  me  to  secure  the  necessary  materials  for 
a  proper  investigation  of  our  salmon,  etc. 

A  single  specimen  of  any  fish  of  this  family,  even  the 
common  brook  trout,  from  any  locality,  with  label  attached, 
mentioning  the  name  of  the  place,  would  be  very  accept- 
able, as  indicating  the  range  of  distribution.  Of  the  rarer 
varieties,  several  specimens  are  desirable.  Besides  the 
specimens  that  may  be  thus  brought  forward,  I  would  like 
an  opportunity  to  critically  study  the  specific  characters 
of  all  the  different  species  of  the  family  found  upon  this 
continent.  To  this  effect  I  should  have  a  large  number 
of  specimens  of  each  species,  in  every  stage  of  growth, 
collected  in  the  same  locality,  so  that  there  could  be  no 
doubt  of  its  being  the  same  kind  offish,  and  yet  a  chance 
be  afforded  of  studying  all  the  variations  of  age,  sex,  sea- 
son, etc.  For  the  salmon,  for  instance,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  have  very  young  ones,  others  two,  three,  four,  five 
inches,  etc.,  to  full-grown  ones, />#;//  one  place,  where  the 
trite  salmon  alone  is  found  ;  then  the  same  for  the  land- 
locked salmon  ;  then  the  same  again  for  the  Sebago  sal- 
mon. This  would  settle  the  question  whether  we  have 
one,  two,  or  three  species  of  salmon.  Next,  I  would 
wish  for  the  same  opportunity  of  studying,  in  every  stage 
of  growth,  the  lake  trout,  the  brook  trout,  the  grayling, 


324  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

and  the  different  kinds  of  whitefish.  Single  specimens 
sent  from  different  localities  —  and  the  more  such  are 
sent  the  better  —  will  settle  the  question  of  the  distribu- 
tion of  each  species  ;  but  you  see  that  it  will  never  do  to 
attempt  identifying  the  species  from  specimens  gathered 
at  random  in  different  localities  ;  that  study  must  be  made 
from  specimens  collected  in  the  same  region,  indepen- 
dently of  the  study  of  the  distribution  of  species.  And 
now  that  you  know  my  plans,  I  leave  the  matter  in 'your 
hands. 

Very  truly  yours, 

L.  AGASSIZ. 
LIVINGSTON  STONE,  ESQ. 


APPENDIX    XII. 

MARKING   SALMON.  —  (BUCKLAND.) 

1NOW  give  the  different  ways  of  marking, 
i.  Cut  off  the  dead  or  adipose  fin  altogether  with 
sharp  surgical  scissors.  This  test,  however,  is  liable  to 
mislead.  Everybody  cuts  off  this  fin,  so  that  future  diag- 
nosis is  difficult.  I  do  not  know  what  use  the  salmon 
makes  of  the  adipose  fin.  It  seems  to  have  been  put 
on  his  back  by  nature  for  the  convenience  of  us  pisci- 
culturists, on  purpose  to  be  cut  off,  or  otherwise  experi- 
mented on. 

2.  Slit  the  adipose  fin  right  down  the  middle  again  with 
sharp  scissors.     Rub  the  cut  edges  well  with  stick  nitrate 
of  silver  ;  these  edges  will  never  again  unite  as  long  as  the 
fish  lives,  unless  the  salmon  has  a  submarine  hospital, 
and  a  piscine  doctor  to  bring  the  edges  together,  and  keep 
them  there  in  a  scientific  manner. 

3.  Cut  a  V-shaped  bit  out  of  the  front  of  the  adipose 
fin  on  its  anterior  margin. 

4.  Cut  a  V-shaped  bit  out  of  the  posterior  margin. 

5.  Cut  a  V  from  the  top  of  the  adipose  fin,  from  above 
downwards. 

6.  Get  some  little  metal  clips,  such  as  are  used  to  keep 
loose  papers  together,  make  a  hole  with  a  pen-knife  be- 
tween the  rays  of  the  edge  of  one  of  the  fins,  not  the  tail 
or  pectoral  fins,  run  in   the  letter  clip,  expand   the  two 
arms,  and  Mr.  Fish  is  marked.     Do  not  put  the  clip  too 
tight,  or  it  might  slough  out     A  bull  never  sheds  the  iron 
ring  in  his  nose,  but  recollect  the  ring  is  loose,  not  tight. 


326  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

There  might  be  a  danger  that  these  clips  would  not  stand 
sea  water ;  they  might  easily  be  galvanized  over,  or  cov- 
ered with  a  waterproof  varnish. 

7.  Wipe  the  fish's  face  quite  dry.     Light  a  Vesuvian 
match  (not  a  flamer),  and  burn  the   skin  of  his  cheek  ; 
burn   marks   never  come  out  in   men  and  animals,  why 
should  they  not  also  be  permanent  in  fish  ?     The  Vesu- 
vian marks  can  be  varied,  —  one  on  the  right  cheek  for 
1870,  two  on  the  left  cheek  for  1871,  and  so  on. 

8.  Get  a  saddler's  punch,  such  as  is  used  for  making 
holes  in  stirrup  leathers.     Punch  a  hole  in  his  gill-cover ; 
the  hole  will  only  let  a  little  more  water  into  his  gills,  on 
the  principle  that  they  slit  the  nostrils  of  the  mules  that 
carry  copper  ore  up  the  Andes,  —  it  lets  more  air  into  their 
lungs. 

9.  Get  a  sharp  clip,  such  as  is  used  by  the  "tickets, 
please,"  man  at  the  railway  station.     Clip  bits  out  of  the 
edges  of  the  fish's  gills,  or  out  of  his  anal  fin.     This  fin  is 
the  least  serviceable  fin  to  the  fish,  therefore  utilize  it  ; 
but  interfere  with  his  tail  fin,  that  is,  his  screw  propeller, 
as  little  as  possible. 

10  Get  a  set  of  doctor's  cupping  instruments,  cup  the 
fish  on  his  side ;  six  beautiful  slits  are  made  in  a  moment. 
Rub  in  gunpowder,  and  the  fish  is  tattooed. 

n.  Fasten  silver  wire  loose  around  the  first  ray  of  the 
back  fin,  or  round  the  hindermost  ray  of  the  anal  fin. 
The  wire  must  not  be  too  loose,  or  it  might  catch  in  weeds, 
etc.  I  am  afraid  tickets,  unless  very  small,  with  numbers, 
might  interfere  with  the  fish's  movements. 

Whatever  you  do,  take  care  not  to  touch  or  injure  the 
fish's  gills.  If  the  fish  is  obstreperous,  do  not  fight  with 
him  ;  let  him  dance  about  a  bit  on  the  grass.  A  silk 
pocket-handkerchief  is  the  best  thing  to  hold  a  slippery 
fish  ;  a  flannel  blanket  is  also  a  useful  thing. 

Do  not  return  the  fish  rudely  into  the  water;  if  he  is 


APPENDIX   XII.  327 

faint,  go  in  wf.th  him,  and  support  his  head  against  the 
stream  till  he  swims  away  of  himself.  If  there  are  many 
fish,  keep  them  till  wanted  in  the  water  in  a  large  hoop, 
or,  as  I  call  it,  a  "  crinoline  "  net  This  net  can  easily  be 
made  with  two  common  hoops,  as  used  by  boys,  and  a 
bit  of  spare  netting. 

I  am  afraid  Mr.  Colam  and  the  Cruelty  to  Animals  So- 
ciety may  be  down  on  me  for  my  suggestions  on  marking 
fish ;  but  I  really  do  not  think  the  cold-blooded,  scale- 
wearing  fish  can  possibly  have  an  acute  sensation  of  pain. 
Besides  which,  even  suppose  it  was  cruel  to  mark  fish, 
the  operations  are  done  in  the  cause  of  science,  and  for  the 
advancement  of  general  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the 
salmon. 

October  20,  1870. 


APPENDIX    XIII. 

ARE  THE   FISH   IN  THE   SEA   DIMINISHING?    . 
Extract  from  Bertram's  Harvest  of  the  Sea,  Chap.  XI. 

THE  idea  of  a  slowly  but  surely  diminishing  supply  of 
fish  is  no  doubt  alarming,  for  the  public  have  hitherto 
believed  so  devoutly  in  the  frequently  quoted  proverb  of 
"  more  fish  in  the  sea  than  ever  came  out  of  it,"  that  it  has 
never,  except  by  a  discerning  few,  been  thought  possible 
to  overfish  ;  and,  consequently,  while  endeavoring  to  sup- 
ply the  constantly  increasing  demand,  it  has  never  suffi- 
ciently been  brought  home  to  the  public  mind  that  it  is 
possible  to  reduce  the  breeding  stock  of  our  best  kinds  of 
sea  fish  to  such  an  extent  as  may  render  it  difficult  to  re- 
populate  those  exhausted  ocean  colonies  which  in  years 
gone  by  yielded,  as  we  have  been  often  told,  such  miracu- 
lous draughts.  It  is  worthy  of  being  noticed  that  most 
of  our  public  writers  who  venture  to  treat  the  subject  of 
the  fisheries  proceed  at  once  to  argue  that  the  supply  of 
fish  is  unlimited,  and  that  the  sea  is  a  gigantic  fish-pre- 
serve into  which  man  requires  but  to  dip  his  net  to  obtain 
at  all  times  an  enormous  amount  of  wholesome  and  nutri- 
tious food. 

I  would  be  glad  to  believe  in  these  general  statements 
regarding  our  food  fisheries,  were  I  not  convinced,  from 
personal  inquiry,  that  they  are  a  mere  coinage  of  the  brain. 

There  are  doubtless  plenty  of  fish  still  in  the  sea,  but 
the  trouble  of  capturing  them  increases  daily,  and  the  in- 
struments of  capture  have  to  be  yearly  augmented,  indi- 
cating but  too  clearly  to  all  who  have  studied  the  subject 


APPENDIX    XIII.  329 

that  we  are  beginning  to  overfish.  We  already  know,  in 
the  case  of  the  salmon,  that  the  greed  of  man,  when 
thoroughly  excited,  can  extirpate,  for  mere  immediate  gain, 
any  animal,  however  prolific  it  may  be.  Some  of  the 
British  game  birds  have  so  narrowly  escaped  destruction 
that  their  existence,  in  anything  like  quantity,  when  set 
against  the  armies  of  sportsmen  who  seek  their  annihila- 
tion, is  wonderful. 

The  salmon  has  just  had  a  very  narrow  escape  from  ex- 
termination. It  was  at  one  time  a  comparatively  plentiful 
fish,  that  could  be  obtained  for  food  purposes  at  an  almost 
nominal  expense,  and  a  period  dating  eighty  years  back  is 
thought  to  have  been  a  golden  age  so  far  as  the  salmon 
fisheries  were  concerned.  But,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  more 
than  questionable  if  salmon,  or  indeed  any  of  our  sea  or 
river  animals,  ever  were  so  magically  abundant  as  has 
been  represented.  At  the  time  —  a  rather  indefinite  time, 
however,  ranging  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
last  century,  and  frequently  referred  to  by  writers  on  the 
salmon  question  —  when  farm  servants  were  compelled  to 
eat  of  that  fish  more  frequently  than  seemed  good  for 
their  stomachs,  or  when  the  country  laird,  visiting  London, 
ordered  a  steak  for  himself  with  "a  bit  o'  saumon  for  the 
laddie,"  and  was  thunderstruck  at  the  price  of  the  fish, 
we  must  bear  in  mind,  as  a  strong  element  of  the  ques- 
tion, that  there  were  few  distant  markets  available  ;  it  was 
only  on  the  Tweed,  Tay,  Severn,  and  other  salmon  streams, 
that  the  salmon  was  really  plentiful. 

No  such  regular  commerce  as  that  now  prevailing  was 
carried  on  in  fresh  salmon  at  the  period  indicated.  In 
fact,  properly  speaking,  there  was  no  commerce  beyond 
an  occasional  despatch  to  London  per  smack,  or  the  sale 
of  a  few  fish  in  country  market-towns,  and  salmon  has 
been  known  to  be  sold  in  these  places  at  so  low  a  rate  as 
a  penny  or  twopence  a  pound  weight.  Most  of  these 


33O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

fish,  at  the  time  I  have  indicated,  were  boiled  in  pickle,  or 
split  up  and  cured  as  kippers.  In  those  days  there  were 
neither  steamboats  nor  railways  to  hurry  away  the  produce 
of  the  sea  or  river  to  London  or  Liverpool.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  in  those  good  old  times  salmon 
could  almost  be  had  for  the  capturing.  Poaching  —  that 
is,  poaching  as  a  trade  —  was  unknown.  As  I  have  al- 
ready stated,  when  the  people  resident  on  a  river  were 
allowed  to  capture  as  many  fish  as  they  pleased,  or  when 
they  could  purchase  all  they  required  at  a  nominal  price, 
there  was  no  necessity  for  them  to  capture  the  salmon 
while  it  was  on  the  beds  in  order  to  breed.  Farm-servants 
on  the  Tay  or  Tweed  had  usually  a  few  poached  fish,  in 
the  shape  of  a  barrel  of  pickled  salmon,  for  winter  use. 
At  that  time,  as  I  have  already  said  in  treating  of  the  sal- 
mon, men  went  out  on  a  winter  night  to  "burn  the  water," 
but  then  it  was  simply  by  way  of  having  a  frolic.  In 
those  halcyon  days  country  gentlemen  killed  their  salmon 
in  the  same  sense  as  they  killed  their  own  mutton,  namely, 
for  household  eating;  there  was  no  other  demand  for  the 
fish  than  that  of  their  own  servants  or  retainers.  Farmers 
kept  their  smoked  or  pickled  salmon  for  winter  use,  in  the 
same  way  as  they  did  pickled  pork  or  smoked  bacon. 
The  fish,  comparatively  speaking,  were  allowed  to  fulfil 
the  instincts  of  their  nature  and  breed  in  peace  ;  those 
owners,  too,  of  either  upper  or  lower  waters,  who  delighted 
in  angling,  had  abundance  of  attractive  sport;  and,  so  far 
as  can  be  gleaned  from  personal  inquiry  or  reading,  there 
was  during  the  golden  age  of  the  salmon  a  rude  plenty 
of  home-prepared  food  of  the  fish  kind,  which,  even  with 
the  best-regulated  fisheries,  we  can  never  again,  in  these 
times  of  increasing  population,  steam  power,  and  aug- 
mented demand,  hope  to  see. 

At  present  the  very  opposite  of  all  this  prevails.     Far- 
mers or  cottars  cannot  now  make  salmon  a  portion  of  their 


APPENDIX   XIII.  331 

winter's  store.  Permission  to  angle  for  that  fish  is  a  favor 
not  very  easily  procured,  because  even  the  worst  upper 
waters  can  be  let  each  season  at  a  good  figure  ;  and  more 
than  all  that,  the  fish  has  become  individually  so  valuable 
as  to  tempt  persons,  by  way  of  business,  to  engage  ex- 
tensively in  its  capture  at  times  when  it  is  unlawful  to  take 
it,  and  the  animal  is  totally  unfit  for  food.  A  prime  sal- 
mon is,  on  the  average,  quite  as  valuable  as  a  Southdown 
sheep  or  an  obese  pig,  both  of  which  cost  money  to  rear 
and  fatten  ;  and  at  certain  periods  of  the  year  salmon  has 
been  known  to  bring  as  much  as  ten  shillings  per  pound- 
weight  in  a  London  fish-shop.  There  have  been  many 
causes  at  work  to  bring  about  this  falling  off  in  our  sup- 
plies ;  but  ignorance  of  the  natural  history  of  the  fish,  the 
want  of  accord  between  the  upper  and  lower  proprietors 
of  salmon  rivers,  the  use  of  stake  and  bag  nets,  poaching 
during  close  times,  and  the  consequent  capture  of  thou- 
sands of  gravid  fish,  as  well  as  the  immense  amount  of 
overfishing  by  the  lessees  of  fishing  stations,  are  doubtless 
among  the  chief  reasons. 

If  these  misfortunes  occur  with  an  important  and  indi- 
vidually valuable  fish  like  the  salmon,  which  is  so  well 
hedged  round  by  protective  laws,  and  which  is  so  accessi- 
ble that  we  can  watch  it  day  by  day  in  our  rivers,  —  and 
that  such  misfortunes  have  occurred  is  quite  patent  to  the 
world  ;  indeed,  some  of  the  best  streams  of  England,  at  one 
time  noted  for  their  salmon,  are  at  this  moment  nearly  des- 
titute of  fish,  —  how  much  more  is  it  likely,  then,  that 
similar  misfortunes  may  occur  to  the  unwatched  and  un- 
protected fishes  of  the  sea,  which  spawn  in  a  greater  world 
of  water,  with  thousands  of  chances  against  their  seed 
being  even  so  much  as  fructified,  let  alone  any  hope  of  its 
ever  being  developed  into  fish  fit  for  table  purposes.  In 
the  sea  the  larger  fish  are  constantly  preying  on  the 
smaller,  and  the  waste  of  life,  as  I  have  elsewhere  ex- 


332  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

plained,  is  enormous.  The  young  fish,  so  soon  as  they 
emerge  from  their  fragile  shell,  are  devoured  in  countless 
millions,  not  one  in  a  thousand,  perhaps,  escaping  the  dan- 
gers of  its  youth.  Shoals  of  haddocks,  for  instance,  find 
their  way  to  the  deposits  of  herring-spawn  just  as  the 
eggs  are  bursting  into  life,  or  immediately  after  they  have 
vivified,  so  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  infantile 
fry  and  quickening  ova  are  annually  devoured.  The  hun- 
gry codfish  are  eternally  devouring  the  young  of  other 
kinds,  and  their  own  young  as  well ;  and  all  throughout  the 
depths  of  ocean  the  strong  fishes  are  found  to  be  preying 
on  the  weak,  and  a  perpetual  war  is  being  waged  for  daily 
food.  Reliable  information,  it  is  true,  cannot  easily  be 
obtained  on  these  points,  it  being  so  difficult  to  observe 
the  habits  of  animals  in  the  depths  of  the  ocean  ;  and  none 
of  our  naturalists  can  inform  us  how  long  it  is  before  our 
whitefish  arrive  at  maturity,  and  at  what  age  a  codfish  or 
a  turbot  becomes  reproductive  ;  nor  can  our  economists 
do  more  than  guess  the  percentage  of  eggs  that  ripen  into 
fish,  or  the  number  of  these  that  are  likely  to  reach  our 
tables  as  food. 

As  has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter  of  this 
volume,  the  supply  of  haddocks  and  other  Gadidce  was 
once  so  plentiful  around  the  British  coasts  that  a  short  line, 
with  perhaps  a  score  of  hooks  frequently  replenished  with 
bait,  would  be  quite  sufficient  to  capture  a  few  thousand 
fish.  The  number  of  hooks  was  gradually  extended,  till 
now  they  are  counted  by  the  thousands,  the  fishermen 
having  to  multiply  the  means  of  capture  as  the  fish  be- 
come less  plentiful.  About  forty  years  ago  the  percentage 
of  fish  to  each  line  was  very  considerable:  eight  hundred 
hooks  would  take  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  fish  ;  but 
now,  with  a  line  studded  with  four  thousand  hooks,  the 
fishermen  sometimes  do  not  take  one  hundred  fish.  It 
was  recently  stated  by  a  correspondent  of  the  John  o1  Groat 


APPENDIX    XIII.  333 

Journal^  a  newspaper  published  in  the  fishing  town  of 
Wick,  that  a  fish-curer  there  contracted  some  years  ago 
with  the  boats  for  haddock  at  3  s  6d.  per  hundred,  and 
that  at  that  low  price  the  fishing  yielded  the  men  from 
£-2Q>  to  ^40  each  season  ;  but  that  now,  although  he  has 
offered  the  fishermen  12  s.  a  hundred,  he  cannot  procure 
anything  like  an  adequate  supply.  • 

As  the  British  sea  fisheries  afford  remunerative  employ- 
ment to  a  large  body  of  the  population,  and  offer  a  favorable 
investment  for  capital,  it  is  surely  time  that  we  should  know 
authoritatively  whether  or  not  there  be  truth  in  .the  falling 
off  in  our  supplies  of  herring  and  other  whitefish.  At  one 
of  the  Glasgow  fish  merchants'  annual  soirees,  held  a  year 
or  two  ago,  it  was  distinctly  stated  that  all  kinds  of  fish 
were  less  abundant  now  than  in  former  years,  and  that  in 
proportion  to  the  means  of  capture  the  result  was  less. 
Mr.  Methuen  reiterated  such  opinions  again  and  again. 
" 1  reckon  our  fisheries,"  said  this  enterprising  fish  mer- 
chant, on  one  occasion,  "if  fostered  and  properly  fished,  a 
national  source  of  wealth  of  more  importance  and  value 
than  the  gold  mines  of  Australia,  because  the  gold  mines 
are  exhaustible,  but  the  living,  propagating,  self-cultivating 
gift  of  God  is  inexhaustible,  if  rightly  fished  by  man,  to 
whom  they  are  given  for  food.  It  is  evident  anything 
God  gives  is  ripe  and  fit  for  food.  '  Have  dominion,'  not 
destruction,  was  the  command.  Any  farmer  cutting  his 
ripe  clover  grass  would  not  only  be  reckoned  mad,  but 
would  in  fact  be  so,  were  he  to  tear  up  the  roots  along 
with  the  clover,  under  the  idea  that  he  was  thus  obtaining 
more  food  for  his  cattle,  and  then  wondering  why  he  had 
no  second  crop  to  cut.  His  cattle  would  starve,  himself 
and  family  be  beggared,  and  turned  out  of  their  farm  as 
improvident  and  destructive,  who  not  only  beggared  them- 
selves, but  to  the  extent  of  their  power  impoverished  the 
people  by  destroying  the  resources  of  their  country.  The 


334  DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 

farmer  who  thus  destroys  the  hopes  of  a  rising  crop  by 
injudicious  farming  is  not  only  his  own  enemy,  but  the 
enemy  of  his  country  as  well."  Such  evidence  could  be 
multiplied  to  any  extent,  if  it  were  necessary ;  but  I  feel 
that  quite  enough  has  been  said  to  prove  the  point.  It  is 
a  point  I  have  no  doubt  upon  whatever,  and  persons  who 
have  studied  the  question  are  alarmed,  and  say  it  is  no 
use  blinking  the  matter  any  longer,  that  the  demand  for 
fish  as  an  article  of  food  is  not  only  beginning  to  exceed 
the  supply,  but  that  the  supply  obtained,  combined  with 
waste  of  spawn  and  other  causes,  is  beginning  to  exceed 
the  breeding  power  of  the  fish.  In  the  olden  time,  when 
people  only  caught  to  supply  individual  wants,  fish  were 
plentiful,  in  the  sense  that  no  scarcity  was  ever  expe- 
rienced, and  the  shoals  of  sea  fish,  it  was  thought  at  one 
time,  would  never  diminish  ;  but  since  the  traffic  became 
a  commercial  speculation  the  question-  has  assumed  a  to- 
tally different  aspect,  and  a  sufficient  quantity  cannot  now 
be  obtained.  Who  ever  hears  now  of  monster  turbot  be- 
ing taken  by  the  trawlers  ?  Where  are  the  miraculous 
hauls  of  mackerel  that  used  to  gladden  the  eyes  of  the 
fishermen  ?  Where  are  now  the  wagon-loads  of  herring 
to  use  as  manure,  as  in  the  golden  age  of  the  fisheries  ? 
I  do  not  require  to  pause  for  the  reply ;  echo  would  only 
mock  my  question  by  repeating  it.  Exhausted  shoals  and 
inferior  fish  tell  us  but  too  plainly  that  there  is  reason  for 
alarm,  and  that  we  have  in  all  probability  broken  at  last 
upon  our  capital  stock. 

It  seems  perfectly  clear  that  we  have  hitherto  seriously 
exaggerated  the  stock;  it  could  never  have  been  of  the 
extent  indicated,  because  then  no  draughts  could  have  had 
any  great  effect,  no  matter  how  enormous  they  might  have 
been.  From  various  natural  causes,  some  of  which  I 
have  indicated  in  a  former  chapter,  the  stock  has  been 
kept  in  balance,  and  it  seems  now  perfectly  clear  that  by 


APPENDIX    XIII.  335 

a  course  of  fishing  so  extensive  as  that  carried  on  at 
present,  coupled  with  the  destruction  incidental  to  unpro- 
tected breeding,  we  must  at  all  events  speedily  narrow,  if 
not  exhaust,  the  capital  stock.  We  have  done  so  in  the 
case  of  the  salmon ;  and  the  best  remedy  for  that  evil 
which  has  yet  been  discovered  is  cultivation, — piscic-al- 
ture,  in  fact,  —  which  science,  or  rather  art,  I  have  already 
treated  of  on  its  own  merits.  In  ancient  days  the  land 
yielded  sufficient  roots  and  fruits  for  the  wants  of  its  then 
population  without  cultivation ;  but  as  population  in- 
creased, and  larger  supplies  became  necessary,  cultiva- 
tion was  tried,  and  now  in  all  countries  the  culture  of  the 
land  is  one  of  the  main  employments  of  the  people.  The 
sea,  too,  must  be  cultivated,  and  the  river  also,  if  we  de- 
sire to  multiply  or  replenish  our  stock  of  fish. 


APPENDIX    XIV. 
BOOKS   ON   FISH   CULTURE. 

LIST  OF  PUBLISHED  WORKS  RELATING  IN  WHOLE  OR 
IN  PART  TO  FISH  CULTURE. 

"onniANOY  'AAIEYTIKGN,  /3ij3Xia  irevre.  I2mo.  Floren- 
tine. CDXV. 

Booke  of  Fishing  with  Hook  and  Line,  and  all  other  In- 
struments thereunto  belonging ;  with  Remarks  on  the 
Preservation  of  Fish  in  Ponds.  Leonard  Mascall.  4to. 
London.  1590. 

Certaine  Experiments  concerning  Fish  and  Fruite.  »John 
Taverner.  4to.  1600.  Very  rare. 

The  Perfect  Husbandman.  C.  H.  B.  C  and  C.  M.  4to. 
London.  1658.  Pages  346-355  of  Fish  Ponds  and  Fish. 

The  Angler's  Vade  Mecum,  together  with  a  Brief  Dis- 
course on  Fish  Ponds.  Thomas  Barrett.  8vo.  London. 
1681. 

Country  Gentleman's  Vade  Mecum.  Giles  Jacob.  Lon- 
don. 1717.  Pages~25-3i  on  Fish,  Angling,  and  Fish  Ponds. 

Discourse  of  Fish  and  Fishing.  Roger  North.  8vo. 
London.  1718.  Large  4to.  London.  1770. 

An  Account  of  the  Fishpool.  Sir  Richard  Steele.  8vo. 
London.  1718. 

History  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  Vol.1.  John  Baptiste 
Duhalde.  1735. 

Memoirs  of  the  Swedish  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences. 
Vol.  XXIII.  German  Ed.  1761. 

Philosophical  Trans.  Royal  Society  of  London.  Vol. 
LVII.  1768. 


APPENDIX   XIV.  337 

Icthyologie,  ou  histoire  naturelle  ge'ne'rale  et  particu- 
liere  des  poissons,  traduit  de  1'allemande  par  Laveaux. 
Marc.  Eliez.  Bloch.  12  vols.  Berlin.  1785-97. 

Berisch  Anweisung  zur  Zahmen  und  Wilden  Fischerei. 
Leipzig.  1794. 

A  Plain  and  Easy  Introduction  to  the  Knowledge  and 
Practice  of  Gardening,  with  Hints  on  Fish  and  Fish 
Ponds.  Charles  Marshall.  I2mo.  London.  1796. 

Natural  History  of  British  Fishes.  O.  Donovan.  5  vols. 
London.  1802-08. 

History  of  Fishes.  Vol.1.  Noel  de  la  Morimiere.   1815. 

Histoire  naturelle  des  poissons.  Cuvier  et  Valen- 
ciennes. 8vo.  Paris.  1828. 

Salmonia ;  or,  Days  of  Fly  Fishing.  Sir  Humphry 
Davy.  8vo.  London.  1828. 

History  of  British  Fishes.  William  Yarrell.  2  vols. 
London.  1835-36. 

Histoire  naturelle  des  poissons  d'eau  douce  de  1'Europe 
centrale.  Agassiz.  2  vols.  1839. 

Experimental  Observations  on  the  Development  and 
Growth  of  Salmon  Fry,  etc.  John  Shaw.  Edinburgh.  1840. 

Political  Economy  of  the  Romans.  Vol.  II.  Dureau 
de  la  Malle.  1840. 

Journal  of  the  Agricultural  Union  of  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Hesse.  No.  37.  1840. 

Memoirs  of  the  Central  Society  of  Agriculture.  Vol. 
XLVIII.  1840. 

Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.  Vol. 
XIV.  1840. 

Embryology  of  the  Salmon,  Natural  History  of  Fresh 
Water  Fish.  L.  Agassiz.  1842. 

Zoology;  or,  New  York  Fauna.  Part  IV.  Fishes. 
James  E.  De  Kay.  410.  1842. 

A  Treatise  on  the  Management  of  Fresh  Water  Fish. 
Gottlieb  Boecius.  London.  1841. 

15  v 


DOMESTICATED    TROUT. 


The  Complete  Angler,  with  a  Bibliographic  Preface,  giv- 
ing an  Account  of  Fishing  and  Fishing-Books  from  the 
earliest  Antiquity  to  the  Time  of  Walton.  Walton  and 
Cotton.  I2mo.  New  York  and  London.  1847.  Wiley 
and  Putnam's  edition. 

Natural  History  of  the  Salmon.     Wick.     1848. 

Comptes  Rendus  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences.  Vols. 
XXVII.,  XXVIII.,  XXXIII.,  XXXVI.,  XXXVIII.  1848! 

Revue  des  Deux  Mondes.     January  i,  1849. 

Annals  of  the  Natural  Sciences.  Third  Series.  Vol. 
XIV.  1850.  Vol.  XIX.  1853. 

The  Norman  Annual.     1850-54. 

Artificial  Fecundation  of  Fish.  Society  of  Emulation 
of  the  Doubs.  1851. 

The  Book  of  the  Salmon,  by  Ephemera,  assisted  by 
Arthur  Young.  1851. 

The  Agronomic  Annals.     Vol.  I.     1851. 
;  Bulletin  of  the  Agricultural  Society  of  Paris.     Vols.  VI., 
VII.,  VIII.     1851-53. 

Report  upon  the  Facts  proved  at  Huningue,  from  May  6, 
1851,  to  May  7,  1852.  Messrs.  Detzern  and  Berthol. 

Bulletin  of  the  Society  of  Agriculture  of  L'Herault. 
July,  1852. 

Journal  of  Practical  Agriculture.    June  5,  1852. 

Practical    Instructions    upon   Pisciculture.     M.    Coste. 

I853- 

Haxo  d'Espinal  on  the  Artificial  Fecundating  and  Hatch- 
ing of  the  Eggs  of  Fish.  Second  Edition.  1853. 

Memoirs  of  the  Society  of  Agriculture  of  Lyons.     May, 

1853- 

Report  to  the  Director-General  of  Waters  and  Forests, 
upon  the  Repopulating  of  the  navigable  and  floating  Water- 
courses. M.  de  Saint  Ouen,  Administrator  of  the  Forests. 
March,  1853. 

Annals  of  the  Forests.     July  and  August,  1853. 


APPENDIX    XIV.  339 

Handliedung  tol  de  Kumtmatige  Veremenigouldigen  var 
Vischen.  1853. 

Analytic  Sketch  of  the  Labors  of  the  Academy  of 
Rouen.  1853. 

Researches  into  the  Natural  History  of  the  Salmon. 

I853- 

Propagation  of  Salmon  and  other  Fish.  Edward  and 
Thomas  Ash  worth.  Stockport.  1853. 

Researches  on  the  Composition  of  Eggs  in  the  Series 
of  Animals.  Valenciennes  and  Fremy.  1854. 

Guide  du  Pisciculture.     J.  Rdmy.     Paris.     1854. 

Natural  History  and  Habits  of  the  Salmon,  etc.  An- 
drew Young.  1854. 

Pisciculture  pratique  et  sur  1'eleve  et  la  multiplication 
des  sangsues.  Ouenard.  Paris.  1855. 

Pisciculture,  Pisciculteurs,  et  Poissons.  Eugene  Voel. 
Paris.  1856. 

Pisciculture  et  la  production  des  sangsues.  Auguste 
Jourdier.  Paris.  1856. 

Sea-Side  and  Aquarium.  John  Harper.  Edinburgh. 
1858. 

Fish  Culture :  a  Treatise  on  the  Artificial  Propaga- 
tion of  Fish.  Theodatus  Garlick,  M.  D.  New  York. 
1858. 

The  Family  Aquarium.  H.  D.  Butler.  New  York. 
1858. 

Notice  historique  sur  I'dtablissement  de  pisciculture  de 
Huningue.  Berger  Levrault.  Strasbourg.  1862. 

Natural  History  of  the  Salmon,  as  ascertained  at  Stor- 
montfield.  William  Brown.  Glasgow.  1862. 

Fish  Hatching.     Frank  T.  Buckland.     1863. 

Guide  pratique  du  pisciculture.  Pierre  Carbonnier. 
Paris.  1864. 

Propagation  of  Oysters.  M.  Coste  and  Dr.  Kemmerer. 
Brighton.  1864.  , 


34O  DOMESTICATED    TROUT, 

Fish  Culture :  a  Practical  Guide  to  the  Modern  System 
of  breeding  and  rearing  Fish.  Francis  Francis.  Lon- 
don. 1865. 

Artificial  Fish  Breeding.    W.  A.  Fry.    New  York.    1866. 

Harvest  of  the  Sea.  James  G.  Bertram.  New  York. 
1866.  A  most  excellent  and  valuable  book. 

The  Stormontfield  Piscicultural  Experiments.  Robert 
Buist.  Edinburgh.  1866. 

Harper's  Magazine.     November,  1868. 

Practical  Water  Farming.  William  Beard,  M.  D.  Edin- 
burgh. 1868. 

American  Fish  Culture.  Thaddeus  Norris.  Philadel- 
phia. 1868. 

Directions  for  Raising  Trout.  Livingston  Stone.  Bos- 
ton. 1868. 

Fishing  in  American  Waters.  Genio  C.  Scott.  New 
York.  1869. 

Trout  Culture.  Seth  Green.  Caledonia,  New  York. 
1870. 

Pisciculture  dans  1'Ame'rique  du  nord.  J.  Leon  Sou- 
berain.  Bulletin  de  la  Socie'te'  d'Acclimatation.  January 
and  February,  1871. 

Selection  of  Species  in  relation  to  Sex.  Charles  Dar- 
win. 2  vols.  London  and  New  York.  1871. 

Domesticated  Trout:  How  to  Breed  and  Grow  them. 
Livingston  Stone,  A.  M.  Boston.  1872. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  WITH  DATES  NOT  GIVEN. 

Artificial  Spawning,  Breeding,  and   Rearing  of  Fish. 
Gottlieb  Boccius.     Van  Voorst.     Paternoster  Row. 
De  Piscibus  et  aquatilibus  omnibus.    Conrad  Gesner. 
De  Re  Rustica.     Book  VIII.     Columella. 
Easy  Method  of  Catching  Fish.     William  Arderon. 


APPENDIX    XIV.  341 

Fur,  Fin,  and  Feather.  A  Compilation  of  Game  Laws. 
New  York.  M.  B.  Bowen  &  Co. 

Husbandman's  Jewell,  with  the  Art  of  Angling,  includ- 
ing Fish  and  Fish  Ponds. 

Importanza  economica  dei  pisci  e  del  coro  allevamento 
artificiale.  Signor  F.  Defillippi. 

Instructions  pratiques  sur  la  Pisciculture,  suivies  de 
memoires  et  de  rapports  sur  la  meme  sujet.  M.  Coste. 
Paris. 

Multiplication  artificelle  des  poissons.  J.  P.  J.  Koltz. 
Paris. 

Pisciculture  et  culture  des  eaux.     P.  Trigneaux.    Paris. 

Pisciculture  pratique,  considerations  generales  et  pra- 
tiques sur  le  repeuplement  des  eaux  de  la  France.  M. 
G.  Millet.  Bordeaux. 

Pisciculture  pratique,  rapport  sur  les  mesures  a  prendre 
pour  assurer  le  repeuplement  des  cours  d'eau  de  la 
France.  M.  G.  Millet.  Paris. 

Pisciculture,  rapport  sur  le  repeuplement  des  cours 
d'eau  et  sur  les  travaux  de  pisciculture  de  M.  Millet. 
Paris.  Auguste  Coin,  Editeur. 

Pisciculture  :  considerations  gdndrales  et  pratiques  sur 
la  pisciculture  marine.  M.  G.  Millet.  Paris. 

Pisciculture :  observations  sur  la  communication  ver- 
bale  de  M.  Coste.  M.  Millet.  Paris. 

Report  on  the  Species  of  Fish  in  Prussia  which  might 
be  imported  and  acclimated  in  the  fresh  waters  of  France. 
M.  Valenciennes. 

Reports  of  Fisheries  Commissioners  of  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  other 
States.  Annuals. 

Supplementary  Report  on  the  Rivers  of  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal. Manchester. 

The  Oyster  :  where,  when,  and  how  to  find,  breed,  cook, 
and  eat  it. 


342  DOMESTICATED   TROUT. 

The  Salmon  and  its  Artificial  Propagation.  Robert 
Ramsbottom,  Clitheroe.  London. 

Translation  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  French  Piscicul- 
turists. William  H.  Fry.  Appleton  :  New  York. 

Voyage  d'exploration  sur  le  littoral  de  la  France  et  de 
1'Italie.  M.  Coste.  Paris. 


INDEX. 


AGASSIZ,  PROFESSOR,  drawings  of  eggs 
of  the  Coregonus  palaea  as  seen  under 
a  powerful  magnifier,  131,  132  ;  re- 
quests specimens  of  Salmonidas, 
322  -  325. 

AINSWORTH,  spawning  race,  29-31  ; 
Collins's  modification  of,  32-36; 
period  of  hatching,  table,  129. 

ALEVINS,  duration  of  period,  140  ;  ef- 
fect of  cold  on,  146;  experiments 
with,  305  ;  first  appearance  of,  139  ; 
glass  lining  in  troughs  an  injury  to, 
143  ;  habits  of,  140-146  ;  instinct  to 
hide,  143  '•  meaning  of  word  "  ale- 
vin,"  139;  monstrosities  among,  147; 
perversity  in,  145  ;  quantity  of  wa- 
ter necessary  to,  146 ;  tendency  to 
follow  current  of  water,  144  ;  trans- 
portation of,  196. 

AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURISTS'  ASSO- 
CIATION, organization  of,  319-322. 

ANIMAL  PARASITES,  description  of, 
on  young  fry,  186;  on  large  trout, 
Appendix  I. 

APPARATUS  for  hatching,  47. 

AQUEDUCTS,  charred,  48 ;  covered,  49  ; 
hatching  room,  48  ;  security  of,  48. 

ATKINS,  table  of  spawn  in  different 
fish,  268  ;  table  of  impregnated  sal- 
mon eggs  at  Maine  State  Salmon- 
Breeding  Establishment,  92. 

AUTHORITIES,  list  of,  336-342. 

BERTRAM,  extract  from  Harvest  of 
the  Sea,  228-335. 

BREEDERS,  effect  of  health  on  proge- 
ny, 165. 

BUCK  LAND,  FRANK,  directions  for 
marking  salmon,  325  -  327  ;  table  of 
spawn  in  different  fish,  267. 

BUILDINGS,  number  of,  40,  41 ;  car- 
penter's shop,  43  ;  hatching  house, 
44 ;  ice  house,  43  ;  meat  room,  41, 
42  ;  office,  43 ;  store-room,  43. 


BYSSUS,  cause  of,  119:  effect  of,  120; 
peculiarities  of,  120. 

CANADIAN  CORRESPONDENCE,  letters 
from  Mr.  Whitcher,  297  -  299. 

CANNIBALISM,  danger  of,  189 ;  reme- 
dy for,  187. 

CLEANLINESS  inculcated  and  neces- 
sary, r,  App. 

COLD  SPRING  TROUT  PONDS,  brief 
sketch  of,  287  -  295  ;  table  of  spawn 
taken  in  one  month,  269,  270;  table 
of  spawning  time,  269. 

COMMISSARY  DEPARTMENT,  care  and 
preparation  of  meat,  214  ;  cheap- 
ness of  food,  210  ;  fish  flesh  used  as 
food,  213  ;  keeping  meat,  215  ;  kind 
of  food,  211  -  214 ;  minnows  as  food, 

212  ;  nutritious  food,  212  ;  plate  of 
meat-cutter,    215 ;    sour-milk   curd, 

213  ;  worms  and  insects  used  as  food, 
213  ;  variety  in  food,  212. 

COSTE,  arrangement  of  glass  grilles, 
64  -  67  ;  table  of  period  of  spawn- 
ing of  European  fish  which  repro- 
duce in  fresh  water,  271. 

COVERS,  material  for,  63 ;  necessity 
for,  62. 

DISEASES  of  young  fry,  178-193;  list 

of,  177 ;  large  trout,  191. 
DISTRIBUTING  SPOUT,  description  of, 

53  ;  office  of,  53  ;  preparation  of,  53. 

EGGS,  appearance  of  impregnated  and 
unimpregnated,  125,  126  ;  cause  of 
death  among,  121  -  129  ;  color  of, 
106  ;  daily  examination  while  hatch- 
ing, 120;  development  at  hatching 
time,  129,  130  ;  different  fish  pro- 
duced by,  130  ;  effect  of  light  on, 
42,  43  ;  enemies  to  hatching,  118, 
119;  hatching,  112-135;  how  to 
tell  what  eggs  will  produce  good 


344 


INDEX. 


;  number  to  a  fish,  107  ;  plates 
magnifier,  by 


fish,  130 ;  how  to  tell  dead,  122 ; 
how  to  tell  percentage  of  impreg- 
nated, 125-128;  impregnation  of, 
87-100;  method  of  packing,  136- 

of,  as  seen  under 

Professor  Agassiz,  131,  132;  size 

105  ;  structure  of,  106. 

EMBRYOS,  darkness  necessary  to  de- 
velop, 63;  development  of,  129; 
how  to  make  produce  healthy  fish, 
167 ;  sickly,  166  ;  to  insure  strong 
and  healthy,  167;  of  perch,  317; 
of  salmon,  308-316;  of  trout,  68, 
129,  167. 

EXPERIMENTS,  general  account  of, 
303  -  308  ;  with  alevins  and  young 
fry,  305,  3°6  :  in  impregnating  eggs, 
304 ;  large  trout,  306,  307 ;  trout 
eggs  and  trout,  303  -  308. 

EYES,  form  of,  in  trout,  202. 

FILTERING  TANKS,  covers  to,  53 ;  de- 
scription of,  51  ;  filters  for,  52;  ne- 
cessity for,  50  ;  place  of,  52  ;  plate 
of,  51  ;  a  remedy  for  sediment,  50; 
size  of,  52. 

FILTERS,  a  necessity  to  cleanliness  at 
hatching  time,  121  ;  make  of,  and 
material  for,  121. 

FISH,  ancient  fish  story,  283  ;  freezing, 
280,  281  ;  handle  carefully,  222  ;  list 
of  spawning  time,  267,  268  ;  most 
valuable  kinds  found  in  Missisqupi 
River,  274  ;  value  of  those  found  in 
Mirimichi  River,  273. 

FLY-FISHING,  account  of,  283. 

FRESHETS,  loss  occasioned  by,  8 ; 
need  of  precaution  against,  12 ; 
guards  against,  39. 

FUNGUS,  account  of,  114,  115  ;  descrip- 
tion of  parasites  found  in,  260  ;  ef- 
fect of,  on  eggs,  115  ;  how  to  detect 
the  presence  of,  115  ;  microscopic 
examination  of,  257  ;  plate  of  par- 
asites found  in,  257 ;  prevention 
against,  115,  116;  salt  a  cure  for, 
258-260;  why  to  dread,  114. 

GLASS  GRILLES,  cost  of,  56  ;  compared 
with  charred  troughs,  66,  288 ; 
Coste's  arrangement,  64-67. 

GRAVEL,  classification  of,  62  ;  depth 
of,  in  troughs,  61  ;  laying  in  troughs, 
60-62;  obtaining,  60  ;  preparation 
of,  61  ;  quantity  to  be  used,  61  ; 
size  of,  60  ;  washing  of,  61. 

GREEN,  SETH,  method  of  watching 
progress  of  embryo,  129  ;  a  report 
of  shad  spawning  on  the  Hudson 


River,  269  ;  rule  for  time  of  hatch- 
ing, 128. 

HATCHING  APPARATUS,  aqueduct, 
48;  distributing  spout,  53;  filterii.g 
arrangement,  50;  supply  reservoir, 
47  ;  troughs,  54. 

HATCHING  THE  EGGS,  Ainsworth's 
table,  129;  dangers  to,  113;  daily 
examination  while,  121  ;  examining 
the  progress,  124;  hatching  early, 
131  ;  interest  felt  in,  129,  130  ;  labor 
in  picking  over  the  eggs  while  hatch- 
ing, 123 ;  plates  of  microscopic 
changes  in  eggs  while  hatching,  131; 
protection  against  danger  to,  113; 
skill  in,  112,  113  ;  time  required  for, 
128. 

HATCHING  HOUSE,  aqueduct  in,  48, 
49  ;  kind  of,  44  ;  lighting  of,  45  ;  lo- 
cation of,  45  ;  necessity  of  security 
in,  1 18-  121  ;  shape  of,  46  ;  size  of, 
45  ;  troughs  in,  55-64;  use  of  gravel 
in,  60  ;  where  to  look  upon  entering, 
1 20  ;  warmth  of,  45. 

HATCHING  TROUGHS,  advantages  of 
charred  wood  over  other  material, 
56  ;  construction  of,  58,  59 ;  covers 
to,  62-64  ;  comparative  expense  of 
material,  56;  description  of  M. 
Coste's,  64-67;  glass  grilles  used 
in,  56,  57;  glass  used  in  another 
form,  66 ;  make  of,  63,  64  ;  mate- 
rials for,  55  ;  placing  the,  57  ;  prep- 
arations for  use,  59  ;  safeguards  to, 
59,  60 ;  shape  and  size,  57,  58 ; 
screens  for,  59. 

IMPREGNATION,  amount  of,  87-100; 
absorbing  power  of  eggs  at  time  of, 
90-92  ;  average  yield  by  dry  meth- 
od, 93  ;  closing  notes  on,  105  -  107  ; 
discovery  of  dry  or  Russian  method 
introduced  into  this  country,  96 ; 
eggs  exhibited  at  American  Fish 
Culturists'  Association  at  Albany, 
prepared  by  dry  method,  94,  95  ; 
experiments  by  M.  Vrasski,  88,  89  : 
experiments  in,  304,  305  ;  further  di- 
rections for,  102  ;  how  to  tell  per- 
centage of,  124-  129  ;  in  water,  87  ; 
injury  by  water  at  time  of,  88-92  ; 
interesting  consequences  of  dry 
method,  97  -  99  ;  list  or  table  of,  by 
dry  method,  at  Maine  State  Salmon- 
Breeding  Establishment,  92  ;  make 
quick  work,  103  ;  modus  operandi, 
100 ;  practical  advantages  of  dry 
method,  99  ;  Russian  or  dry  method 
more  particularly  described,  92  -  96 ; 


INDEX. 


345 


Seth  Green's    success   in,  93,  94 
temperature   of  water  suitable    to, 

112. 

INLETS  AND  OUTLETS,  directions  for, 
37 ;  side  channels  to,  39  ;  size  of,  39. 

JACK,  account  of,  233. 

JOURNEYS  of  the  fish  and  eggs,  262  - 

267. 

LARGE  TROUT,  account  of  those 
caught  by  G.  S.  Page,  Esq.,  208  ; 
age  of,  207  ;  best  market  for  selling, 
240  ;  best  time  to  kill  for  food,  236  ; 
daily  care,  233  ;  experiments  in 
feeding,  306  -  308  ;  food  for,  1 10  ; 
how  to  grow  rapidly,  231  ;  market- 
ing, 235  ;  most  profitable  age  of,  256  ; 
quantity  of  food,  232  ;  rate  of  growth, 
232  ;  range  required,  232  ;  size  of, 
208 ;  scientific  description  of,  by 
Storer,  197-200;  temperature  of 
water,  232  ;  weight,  207. 

MARKING  FISH,  Buckland's  directions 
for  marking  salmon,  325  -  327. 

MEAT,  place  to  keep,  42  ;  preparation 
of,  41,  42. 

MEAT  GRINDERS,  214,  215. 

MILT,  action  of,  at  time  of  impregna- 
tion, 90  ;  bad  effect  of  water  on,  95  ; 
composi.ion  of,  95 ;  experiments 
with,  95,  304;  length  of  time  the 
spermatozoa  will  remain  alive,  97. 

MINK,  how  to  catch,  225,  226. 

MINNOWS,  as  food,  212  ;  encourage- 
ment to  cannibalism,  212,  213. 

MIRIMICHI  RIVER,  kind  of  fish  found 
in,  272 ;  quantities  of  fish  found, 
272 ;  salmon-breeding  establishment 
on,  298,  305. 

MISSISQUOI  RIVER,  kind  offish  found 
at,  272. 

NORTHERN  NEW  ENGLAND,  table  of 
spawning  time  of  migratory  and 
fresh -water  fish,  270. 

NURSERIES,  description  of,  68. 

ODDS  AND  ENDS,  267-342. 
OVERHEATING,  remedy  for,  189-  190. 

PAGE,  G.  S.,  amount  of  large  trout 
caught,  208  ;  introduction  of  Rus- 
sian method  of  impregnation,  88- 
796 ;  letter  from,  207. 

PATENT  CARBONIZED  HATCHING 
TROUGHS,  cost  of,  compared  with 
glass  grilles,  288;  description  of, 
286  -  289. 

15* 


PERCH  HATCHING,  description  of, 
316-319;  description  of  roe,  317; 
development  of  embryo,  317. 

POACHERS,  227-231. 

PONDS,  advantage  of  plank  over  earth, 
226 ;  avoid  overstocking,  216 ; 
charred,  23 ;  compactness  of,  20  ; 
construction  of,  19 ;  depth  of,  25 ; 
drawing  off,  223  ;  hiding-places  in, 
26  ;  location  of,  18,  219  ;  material  for 
building,  22  ;  mullets  in,  223  ;  num- 
ber of,  2$  ;  repairs  to,  26  :  security 
in,  22  ;  size,  20  ;  shape,  21. 

QUATREFAGE'S  experiments  with  sper- 
matozoa and  milt  of  different  fish 
diluted  with  water,  91. 

REARING  BOXES,  arrangement  of,  77 ; 
absence  of  fixed  hiding-places,  74  ; 
compactness  of  fish  for  feeding  in, 
74  ;  completeness  in,  72  ;  construc- 
tion of  ponds  used  as,  78 ;  current 
in,  72  ;  form  of,  72  ;  fall  of  water  in, 

72  ;  number  of  points  necessary  to 
completeness  in,   72  ;  outside  ene- 
mies, 74,  75  ;  overflow  in,  73  ;  pro- 
tection against  too  forcible  suction, 

73  ;    points  necessary  to,   72  -  76  ; 
protection  against  fungus,  76;  size 
of,  77  ;  supply  of  water  in,  77  ;  tight 
joints  in,  75  ;  water  plants  in,  78. 

RECAPITULATION  of  all  principles, 
251-254. 

RESERVOIR,  cleanliness  in,  48  ;  secur- 
ity in,  47  ;  supply  of  water  in,  47. 

RIPE  FISH,  appearance  of,  101  ;  cau- 
tion about  handling,  104  ;  danger  in 
rough  handling,  86 ;  dexterity  in 
handling,  104  :  how  to  tell,  100. 

SALMO  EGG,  translation  from  Vogt's 

work  on  the  development  of,  by  F. 

W.  Webber,  308-316. 
SALMON-BREEDING  ESTABLISHMENT 

ON  THE  MIRIMICHI  RIVER,  account 

of,  295-302 ;  letter  from  Mr.  Whitch- 

er,  297  -  299. 

SALT  a  cure  for  fungus,  257  -  261. 
SCREENS,   materials  for,  38  ;  placing 

of,  58  ;  slats  used  as,  38 ;  uniformity 

in,  39- 
SECURITY,  the    principle  inculcated, 

6 ;  necessity  for,  7  ;   losses  caused 

by  want  of,  8 ;  results  of  want  of, 

9,  10. 
SEDIMENT,  danger  of,  116;  method  of 

removing,  117. 
SHAD,  dissertation  on,  283  -  285. 


346 


INDEX. 


SPAWN,  dangers  to,  113-123;  placing 
the,  no,  in  ;  taking  the,  92,  96. 

SPAWNING,  age  of  trout  ready  for, 
105 ;  apparatus  for,  82,  83 ;  appear- 
ance of  fish  when  ready  for,  83  ;  be- 
havior offish  at  time  of,  88  ;  careful 
handling  offish  at  time  of,  84  ;  cap- 
turing the  fish  for,  83,  84  ;  danger  to 
fish  at  time  of,  87  ;  effects  of  weath- 
er on,  107,  108  ;  handling  the  fish 
while,  85-87  ;  length  of  time  neces- 
sary to,  105  ;  pans  for,  i 10  ;  perch, 
317;  process  of,  85-87;  prepara- 
tions for,  82  ;  Russian  method,  96  - 
100  ;  spawning  in  ponds,  109. 

SPAWNING  BEDS,  Ainsworth's  spawn- 
ing race,  28  ;  construction  of,  27,  28  ; 
list  of  articles  necessary  at,  275 ; 
slope  and  size  of  raceway,  27. 

STREAMS,  avoid  overstocking,  216 ; 
examination  of,  while  hatching,  220, 
221  ;  freshets  in,  8,  12,  39;  heating 
of,  remedy  for,  189,  190. 

STOKER,  scientific  description  of  Sal- 
mo  fontinalis,  197  -  200. 

SUFFOCATION,  cause  of,  190 ;  remedy 
for,  190. 

TABLES,  Ainsworth's,  periods  of 
hatching,  129;  Atkins's,  of  spawn 
in  different  fish,  268 ;  including  fish 

.  not  mentioned  in  other,  268  ;  Buck- 
land's,  of  spawn  in  different  fish, 
267  ;  of  amount  of  spawn  taken  at 
Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  in  one 
month,  269,  270  ;  Coste's,  of  time  of 
spawning  of  different  fish  which  re- 
produce in  fresh  water,  271 ;  Green's, 
showing  number  of  shad  spawn, 
269  ;  of  times  when  it  is  illegal  to 
take  trout  in  some  of  the  States,  272 ; 
of  time  of  spawning  in  Northern 
New  England,  270,  271  ;  of  number 
of  salmon  eggs  taken  at  Mirimichi 
in  1868,  268. 

TRANSPORTATION  AND  PACKING  OF 

.  EGGS,  directions  to  accompany 
transportation,  133,  134. 

TRICKS  with  trout,  276  ;  at  spawning 
time,  276 ;  with  birds,  279 ;  with 
eggs  of,  278  ;  with  other  fish,  278 ; 
with  muskrats,  279  ;  with  poachers, 
280. 

TROUT,  age  of,  207,  208 ;  appetite 
in  summer,  216;  at  different  times 
of  day,  217 ,  at  spawning  time, 
216  ;  in  winter,  217  ,  brain  of,  205  ; 
change  of  color  in,  206 ;  canni- 
balism of,  217  ;  character  of  water 
needful  to  raising  of,  21 ;  digestion 


of,  155,  205 ;  destructiveness  of, 
26 ;  enemies  to,  9 ;  faultlessness 
of,  200  ;  general  remarks  on,  200  - 
204 ;  growth  as  affected  by  food, 
207  ;  habits  of,  204  ;  handling  care- 
fully, 222  ;  hearing  of,  203 ;  how 
often  to  feed,  217  ;  how  to  screen 
against  loss,  218-224;  markings 
of,  205  ;  mischief  from  not  sorting, 
225  ;  natural  food  for,  205  ;  nerves 
of  smell  in,  203  ;  necessity  of  watch- 
fulness of,  6 ;  protection  against 
enemies  to,  224  -  227  ;  protection 
against  cannibalism,  224,  225  ;  pas- 
turing, 220 ;  progress  of  disease, 
191  ;  qualities  necessary  to  raising, 
5;  quantity  of  food  to  give,  218; 
security  in  raising,  8 ;  sources  of 
danger,  8,  9  ;  sorting,  223  -  225  ; 
suited  to  domestication,  200  ;  sensi- 
tiveness to  motion,  201  ;  sensitive- 
ness to  color,  202  ;  tameness  of,  3, 
4 ;  tricks  with,  276 ;  vision  of,  201, 

202. 

TROUT  BREEDING,  commissary  de- 
partment, 210  ;  processes  in,  81  ; 
qualifications  for,  81 ;  security  neces- 
sary to,  6,  7. 

TROUT-BREEDING  ESTABLISHMENT, 
cost  and  profits,  245  -  247  ;  current 
expenses,  245  ;  list  of  articles  neces- 
sary for  use,  275. 

TROUT  CULTURE,  Ainsworth's  table, 
247;  chances  of  income,  249-251; 
Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds,  250  ;  es- 
timate of  expenses  and  returns,  246  ; 
pecuniary  aspect,  244  ;  repetition  of 
cautions,  133  ;  sources  of  revenue, 
248  -  250. 

UTENSILS  necessary  at  trout-breeding 
establishment,  275. 

VOGT,  M.,  translation  from,  by  F.  W. 

Webber,  308-316. 

VRASSKI,  M..  discoveries  by,  96 ;  ex- 
.    periments,  88,  89. 

WATER,  amount  of,  n  ;  brook  water 
and  spring  water  compared,  15; 
brook  water  advantages,  16  ;  char- 
acter of,  19  ;  desirability  of  fall  in, 
21 ;  guard  against  heating  in,  16-  21, 
217;  in  nursery,  68;  in  pond,  69; 
poisonous  qualities  in,  14  ;  selection 
of,  ii  ;  temperature  of,  13-  16  ;  use 
of  ice,  218;  suitability  of,  14,  15; 
vigor  of,  14 

WATER  PLANTS  in  nursery  and  ponds, 
77,  78  ;  list  of,  274,  275. 


INDEX. 


347 


YOUNG  FRY,  advantages  of  boxes  in 
rearing,  71;  care  of  "en  route," 
i;j5  ;  care  of,  156-176;  counting, 
193  ;  comparison  between  boxes  and 
ponds  in  rearing,  69  -  80  ;  causes  of 
death,  171  ;  danger  of  crowding, 
171  ;  danger  to,  in  ponds,  70  ;  dan- 
ger in  rearing  boxes,  71  ;  delicacy 
of,  149  ;  digestion  of,  155  ;  descrip- 
tion of  diseases  of,  178-  193  ;  earth 
i\  remedy  for  disease,  160  -  165  ;  ex- 
periments with,  305,  306 :  fresh  wa- 
ter essential  to,  169  ;  filling  orders 
for,  192  -  196  ;  first  preparations  for 
sending  off,  192 ;  growth  of,  164 ; 
how  to  make  live,  165  ;  implements 


necessary  in  travelling,  194  ;  kind 
of  food  to  be  used,  151  ;  method  of 
rearing,  69  ;  method  of  feeding,  152- 
154 ;  protection  against  sickness  and 
death,  175  ;  provide  suitable  place 
to  feed,  167  ;  points  to  be  secured  in 
places  where  kept,  168  ;  preparation 
of  food,  151  ;  quantity  of  water  ne- 
cessary while  travelling,  195  ;  size 
of  tanks  or  cans  for  carrying,  194  ; 
shade  necessary  to,  169;  size  of  place 
to  keep,  171  ;  sunlight  injurious  to, 
169;  take  good  care  of,  172-175; 
temperature  of  water  while  travel- 
ling, 195  ;  time  of  beginning  to  feed, 
151 ;  use  of  ice,  195. 


THE  END. 


Cambridge  :  Printed  by  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

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